UK shoppers arriving at retailers through AI platforms are converting at a significantly higher rate than those coming from traditional online channels, new Adobe data has found.
Conversion rates from AI-referred traffic were 20 per cent higher than non-AI traffic in August, extending a shift that saw the channel overtake traditional web traffic for the first time in May.
The findings suggest generative AI platforms including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot are developing from product research tools into increasingly powerful sales channels for retailers.
Adobe found that shoppers referred by AI also spent 23 per cent longer on retail websites and viewed 13 per cent more pages per visit than those arriving through traditional channels, pointing to higher levels of purchase intent among AI-assisted consumers.
AI-referred shoppers were also found to return fewer products, suggesting the technology is helping consumers make more considered purchasing decisions.
Traffic from AI platforms is continuing to surge. Referrals to UK retail websites from AI sources jumped 149 per cent year on year in August and were up 1,439 per cent compared with August 2024.
Adobe’s analysis is based on more than 10bn online transactions each month.
Some 37 per cent of UK consumers have now used an AI assistant as part of their online shopping journey, while more than a third (34 per cent) of those shoppers have made a purchase directly within an AI interface.
The growing conversion power of AI represents a rapid turnaround from its early performance as a retail acquisition channel.
Adobe data from February 2025 showed AI-referred shoppers were still nine per cent less likely to convert than other online visitors, although the gap had narrowed substantially from 43 per cent in July 2024.
By May this year, conversion from AI traffic had overtaken other web channels in the UK for the first time, before widening its lead to 20 per cent by August.
Adobe Digital Insights director Vivek Pandya said earlier this year that growing trust in AI was helping shoppers feel more confident about their purchasing decisions and leading to fewer returns.
He said: “AI traffic is increasingly consistent in converting better than traditional channels and adoption continues to accelerate.”
Pandya added that making retailers’ digital properties AI-ready was becoming increasingly important to remaining visible and driving sales as shopping behaviour changes.
Trust in the technology is also rising. Adobe’s latest research found 66 per cent of UK consumers trust AI tools to provide accurate product recommendations, while 85 per cent of shoppers using AI said it had improved their overall online shopping experience.
Online spending in general has continued its upward trajectory, increasing 3.9 per cent so far in 2026.
June recorded the strongest month of the year to date, with shoppers spending £10.6bn online, up 16.9 per cent year on year, although the uplift was partly driven by Amazon moving its Prime Day event from July to June this year.
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