Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming an important product-discovery channel for retailers, bringing shoppers who are often more informed and closer to making a purchase. PYMNTS reports that retailers are seeing meaningful traffic from AI-powered shopping tools, but the technology is not yet consistently completing the final transaction. In other words, AI is becoming effective at influencing what consumers consider buying, while the retailer's own website or checkout still tends to handle the actual purchase.
One reason this traffic is valuable is that AI can compress the traditional shopping journey. Instead of starting with a broad search and visiting numerous websites, consumers can ask an AI assistant to compare products, evaluate alternatives, and narrow down their choices. PYMNTS has reported that 47% of online shoppers used AI during their most recent purchase, while 64% expect to use AI shopping agents within two years. This means retailers increasingly need to make their products visible and understandable to AI systems, not just to conventional search engines.
However, retailers still have strong reasons to keep the checkout and customer relationship under their own control. A direct transaction gives merchants valuable first-party information about the customer, including purchase history, payment behavior, preferences, and loyalty activity. Recent reporting shows retailers are therefore trying to benefit from AI-generated discovery while encouraging shoppers to return to their own platforms to complete purchases and maintain the direct relationship.
The larger shift is that retail discovery and retail conversion may increasingly become separate stages. AI could become the place where consumers research, compare, and decide what they want, while retailers remain responsible for fulfillment, payments, loyalty, and the final transaction. For merchants, the strategic challenge will be to optimize for both sides: becoming highly visible and trustworthy to AI shopping agents while ensuring that the valuable customer relationship ultimately remains connected to the retailer.
