AI Shopping During the Holidays and What It Signals for 2026

The Q4 shopping season is the busiest for most retailers, making it the perfect litmus test of consumer trends and changes in shopping behavior. Something top of mind for most ecommerce brands this season was the impact AI could have on holiday shopping. Would people use it? If so, how and how much? 

Before we dig into those answers, let’s take a quick step back. 

It’s been interesting to watch how consumers’ attitudes toward AI and shopping shifted throughout 2025. Early in the year, according to a survey by Omnisend, 66% of consumers felt uneasy about the prospect of AI completing a purchase for them. Later in the year, this fell to a mere 32% as shoppers began gearing up for the holiday shopping season. The jump shouldn’t be underestimated, as it shows a significant shift in trust in AI. 

The trust of AI in shopping goes beyond the task of completing an order. The role AI plays in the entire experience is what matters most to brands. According to that same holiday shopping survey, 81% of shoppers said they planned to use AI to shop this holiday season, with 13% saying they are more likely to buy something with the help of AI. In fact, nearly 20% of US shoppers said they had already used AI to come up with gift ideas. 

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The question remains: Did shoppers actually use AI for their holiday shopping? We now have our first look at the impact AI had on holiday ecommerce sales which offers insight to what brands should expect moving forward. 

Adobe reported that November traffic to retailer websites was up 758% year over year. Now, it should be noted that such a large increase is simply, well, a numbers game. AI platforms overall have seen rapid adoption over the past 12 months, naturally inflating these numbers. Still, such a large increase presumes consumers are not just experimenting with AI but are using it for everyday tasks, including shopping.      

That same report showed shoppers coming from AI services were 54% more likely to purchase than those from other referral sources. But this is where it gets interesting. While mobile makes up more than half of ecommerce purchases, 75% of the AI-generated traffic came from desktop. Will the increase in the use of AI for shopping slow the growth of mobile commerce in favor of desktop, or will it necessitate companies like OpenAI to develop a more friendly mobile experience specifically for shopping? This will be an interesting area to watch.  

So, yes, shoppers are already using AI as part of their shopping experience and it seems to have an impact on sales. Now what?

Implications of AI holiday shopping and what brands can do

While we are still in the early stages, to me, it’s safe to assume that AI-assisted shopping is a permanent channel in ecommerce, and that is only getting better. Here are three things brands will need to do to stay relevant in 2026. 

1. Brand building is essential. In a world where LLMs produce specific product suggestions without the influence or visibility of ads alongside them, being included in results is essential. As consumers increasingly trust AI platforms’ recommendations, their searches may increasingly become more narrow and include branded terms. Building brand affinity to encourage brand-included searches through relevant, first-party communications such as email and SMS marketing will be critical to capture repeat sales in the future. 
2. Brands need to show up in LLM results. With 13% of consumers saying they are more likely to buy something with the help of AI, it’s clear that being visible to LLMs is essential. Companies need to look at all aspects of their online operation and ensure they are visible in different AI platforms. Make sure there is appropriately structured data for each of your products in your product feed, understand the differences each AI platform uses for their results, and fill in content gaps that may boost brand visibility and trust signals.    
3. Implement AI agents on your site. In addition to third-party AI platforms driving traffic to your site, it may very well be worth it for brands to use its own AI to assist shoppers. Over the first two days of Cyber Week, retailers with their own branded AI agents on their websites saw 8.7% year over year growth in sales compared to 6.4% for retailers without agents. Whether brands implement agents for customer service or to assist with shopping, it’s quite possible that AI agents can not only lead to sales but also serve as a trust signal to shoppers.  

What it all means

What is clear is that AI platforms are a new, permanent component to the online shopping journey. It’s not a replacement of traditional ecommerce, nor do I think it ever will, but it is here to stay. Brands need to understand how they fit into the new online shopping ecosystem and ensure they show up where consumers are while focusing on ways to provide an even better personalized customer experience that fosters brand affinity. 

About The Author Of This Article

Greg Zakowicz is a digital marketing consultant and Ecommerce and Retail Advisor to Omnisend. As an ecommerce marketing leader and recognized email marketing subject matter expert, he’s a frequent speaker at industry events, has extensively written about ecommerce and retail industry changes, has been published and quoted in top retail and business publications, and served as an expert witness. 

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