AI Traffic to US Retailers Jumps 393% as Agentic Shoppers Spend More

Adobe Analytics reports AI traffic to US retail sites surged 393% YoY in Q1 2026, with March up 269% YoY. The key change is quality: AI traffic now converts 42% better than non-AI channels and generates revenue per visit 37% higher. After arriving via an AI assistant, shoppers spend 48% more time on pages, view 13% more pages per visit, and show a 12% higher engagement rate. Survey data also supports adoption: 39% of US consumers said they’ve used AI for online shopping, and 66% trust AI tools to provide accurate results. The report also flags a distribution bottleneck for the next wave of AI traffic. Many retail sites are poorly “readable” by the models driving it—homepages average 75% AI content visibility, while product pages average 66%, potentially limiting conversion for some brands. In the broader agentic commerce race, the article cites legal and product moves around AI agents making purchases (including disputes involving Amazon and Perplexity) and the push for agent-led checkout experiences. Overall, AI traffic is moving from experimentation into mainstream revenue generation—an important signal for teams building ecommerce infrastructure and for traders tracking tech-driven demand narratives.