AI Traffic to U.S. Retailers Rose 393% in Q1, Boosting Revenue

AI-driven visits to U.S. retail websites grew by 393% in the first quarter of 2026, according to TechCrunch, citing new data from Adobe. The analysis found that more consumers are using AI assistants for online shopping, leading to higher engagement and spending on retail sites.

Adobe’s data, based on over one trillion visits tracked by its Analytics division, showed that AI traffic converted 42% better than human visitors in March 2026. Engagement metrics also improved, with AI-referred shoppers spending 48% longer on sites and browsing 13% more pages per visit. Revenue per visit from AI sources was 37% higher than that from human traffic, reversing trends from a year earlier when non-AI customers were more valuable.

The report noted that 39% of U.S. consumers now use AI for online shopping, with 85% saying it improves their experience. However, Adobe found that many retail websites are not fully optimized for large language models, with around one-third of product pages inaccessible to AI tools. The company advised retailers to improve AI accessibility to capture growing AI-driven demand.