Retailers in the US received a huge traffic boost from prospective customers during the 2024 Golden Quarter thanks to generative AI technologies.
Over the course of November and December 2024 web traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,300 percent compared to 2023. On Cyber Monday alone traffic from generative AI was up 1,950 percent year on year.
The figures, published by Adobe Analytics, looked at the seven months from July 2024 to February 2025 and are based on direct transactions online. Analyzing more than one trillion visits to US retail sites, they demonstrate how generative AI is playing an increasingly important role in the digital customer journey.
Adobe Analytics said that while overall traffic from generative AI “remains modest compared to other channels” – for example paid search and email – the overall impact remains significant as traffic has doubled every two months since September 2024.
To support these findings, Adobe Analytics directly surveyed more than 5,000 people in the US to give an additional layer of context to how consumers are thinking about AI in their daily lives.
The data from this exercise showed 39 percent have used generative AI for online shopping, with 53 percent planning to do so this year.
Here are some of the ways consumers said they are using generative AI:
- 55 percent of respondents use generative AI to conduct research pre-purchase
- 47 percent ask it for product recommendations
- 43 percent use it to find deals
- 35 percent turn to generative AI to inspire gift ideas
- 35 percent use it to search for unique products
- And 33 percent use it to create shopping lists
Upgrading the customer journey with generative AI
It’s a fundamental law of customer engagement that customers expect the brands they love and buy from to meet them on the platform of their choice – and to be available on that platform whenever required.
As a result, many brands – including those that primarily exist in the physical world – offer a digital front door, where the customer can initiate their journey on a digital channel, such as a website or app.
In 2023, Tarv Nijjar, global senior director of CX transformation at McDonald’s told CX Network: “When McDonald’s launched, the front door of the restaurant was the front door of the restaurant. In the world we live in today, the front door can actually be the customer’s mobile phone.”
As the new figures from Adobe prove, today the front door can just as easily be ChatGPT or Gemini – and flying in the face of recent trends, such tools are accessed via desktop computer, rather than mobile. Furthermore, it isn’t just the ecommerce sector that is seeing benefits.
Here are some of the ways financial services customers said they are using generative AI to assist their customer journeys:
- 42 percent are sourcing recommendations for checking and savings account
- 40 percent ask for explainers on investment strategies and terminology
- 39 percent use it to create a personalized budget
- And 25 percent use it to understand the tax implications of financial decisions
Of the 5,000 surveyed by Adobe, 29 percent said they have used generative AI for travel-related tasks and 84 percent of those individuals said it improved their experience. It means tools like the travel bot Heidi, developed by Swiss International Airlines, could soon become standard.
Among AI-savvy travelers:
- 54 percent of respondents use generative AI users for general research
- 43 percent for travel inspiration
- 43 percent for local food recommendations
- 41 percent for transportation planning
- 37 percent itinerary creation
- 31 percent for budget management
- And 20 percent use it to help them decide which essentials to pack for a trip
Not only are customers using generative AI to support a number of steps on their digital-first journeys, the customers that arrive on a site from generative AI are more engaged than those who come from other channels.
How does generative AI improve customer engagement?
The Adobe Analytics web traffic data also profiles what happens once generative AI users land on a retail website. Compared to consumers coming from non-AI traffic sources – which includes paid search, affiliates and partners, email, organic search, and social media – consumers coming from generative AI sources show eight percent higher engagement, staying on a website for longer.
On average, these visitors also browse 12 percent more pages per visit and showed a 23 percent lower bounce rate.
Looking specifically at customers in the financial services sector, Adobe’s figures showed that once they land on a banking site, visitors from generative AI channels spend 45 percent more time browsing, when compared to those who arrive on a site from non-AI sources. This could reflect the intent that a generative AI search signals – customers who arrive via social media marketing for example, are more likely to be interested but passing browsers, while those who have come from a generative AI search have clearer goals and intentions.
Either way, further analysis among the financial services customers showed that in February 2025, traffic to US banking sites from generative AI sources increased by 1,200 percent compared to July 2024 and 27 percent of those surveyed said have used generative AI for banking and financial needs.
Similar trends were noted among travel customers. In February 2025, traffic to US-based travel, leisure and hospitality sites (including hotels) from generative AI sources increased by 1,700 percent compared to July 2024. Among travel customers, Adobe found a 45 percent lower bounce rate among consumers coming from a generative AI source.
Why customers like using generative AI
Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have quickly become embedded in customers’ lives, and in many cases prove indispensable.
Among those surveyed by Adobe, online shoppers said the benefits of using an AI-powered chat interface include a shorter time to source information that is personalized to their needs.
Among those who have used AI for shopping, 92 percent said it enhanced their experience and 87 percent said that they are more likely to use AI for larger or more complex purchases.
How generative AI drives conversions
Customer engagement and satisfaction are important, but what retailers really want is conversions. Before mid-2024, customers who visited a site through generative AI were 43 percent less likely to convert. Now, Adobe says that figure is down to nine percent.
Adobe says the “conversion gap” reinforces that AI is being utilized during the research and consideration stage, in advance of when shoppers are ready to hit the buy button. “But the narrowing gap shows that consumers are also increasingly comfortable completing a transaction directly after an AI-powered chat experience,” the analysis continued.
Despite the perception that customers can be untrusting of AI, these conversion rates indicate that those who depend on generative AI interfaces for product research, clearly have high levels of trust in the technology.
Across the e-commerce categories tracked by Adobe, conversion rates from generative AI traffic were the highest in electronics and jewelry and lowest in the apparel, home goods and grocery categories.
Adobe says this indicates that for products such as televisions, consumers are leaning on AI to narrow options based on individual preferences, such as screen size, resolution, price, which are often difficult to compare across different retailers’ sites.
Quick links
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