Agentic commerce, conversational AI, hyper-personalization, implementation of dynamic pricing strategies, demand forecasting, or contextual pricing are among the most prevailing AI-powered ecommerce trends in 2026.
Marketplace and independent retailers are actively using AI solutions that enable them to benefit from these trends. According to recent data, 91% of the ecommerce businesses are either actively assessing or using AI tools in their daily operations.
Furthermore, 89% of participants in Nvidia’s State of AI in Retail and CPG: 2026 trends study revealed that implementing AI had a positive impact on their business’s revenue.
Online shoppers are also becoming more comfortable with AI models, as 41% of consumers worldwide use generative AI to research products.
80% of consumers are expected to use generative AI tools for online shopping by the end of 2026, while 77% of frequent online shoppers say AI shopping agents speed up their decision-making.
Keep reading for the latest insights into AI statistics and trends in ecommerce.
Key takeaways
- According to recent research, the size of the global ecommerce AI market in 2026 is projected at $11.21 billion.
- 95% of businesses say that AI is decreasing their annual operational costs.
- 57% of online retailers want to use agentic AI to increase their efficiency.
- 87% of ecommerce businesses consider AI investments and implementation their top priority.
- As of 2026, roughly 60% of consumers have used AI during their buying journeys.
- 44% of consumers who tried using answer engines say that it is now their preferred way to research products.
AI and online sales: Market size and adoption rates
Only a few years after becoming widely available, AI tools are dominating the ecommerce industry.
The AI ecommerce market size is expected to grow from $9.01 billion in 2025 to $11.21 billion in 2026. This upward trend is expected to continue over the next 10 years, as AI in ecommerce markets is projected to reach $74.93 billion by 2035.
North America currently dominates the market with 39% market share, while Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region, driven by rapid AI adoption.
Moreover, the number of worldwide AI users is surging, rising from 115.9 million in 2020 to 451.8 million in 2026.
The vast majority of users come from the US, China, the UK, Japan, and Germany, and the latest statistics indicate that approximately 60% of all AI users will come from these five countries by the end of the decade.
Additionally, 80% of consumers say that they plan to shop with AI in 2026. Ecommerce businesses are adjusting to this trend by continuing to invest in automation tools that enable shoppers to try products virtually, add items to shopping carts, and reorder items automatically.
How are ecommerce businesses using AI?
Most business executives say they plan to increase their AI budgets in 2026.
What’s more, 77% of ecommerce professionals used AI tools daily in 2025, and this figure will likely grow as agentic commerce continues to develop and become more accessible to both sellers and buyers.
Here’s how online retailers are either already using or plan to use AI:
- Creating operational efficiencies
- To improve their productivity
- To enhance customer service and improve customer satisfaction
Furthermore, McKinsey’s State of AI report reveals that 71% ecommerce sellers are using AI to perform at least one business function, with sales and marketing being the most common ones.
Besides generating titles and product descriptions for listings, merchants are also relying on AI to automate responses to customer queries, analyze historical sales data, perform predictive analytics, and manage refunds.
Recent research shows that nearly half of customer interactions will be handled by AI by the end of 2027.
Still, the most common use case in the ecommerce industry for generative AI is content creation for advertising, as 67% of businesses frequently use these tools to produce text, images, and videos for their marketing channels.
The AI’s impact on the buying journey and consumer behavior
The customer data shows that the increasing availability of shopping agents and the automation of the entire purchase process are rapidly changing the way consumers discover, research, and buy products
More than half of online shoppers who frequently buy products online were using AI to research products in 2024 and 2025. During the same period, consumers were also relying on AI to:
- Find product recommendations (40%)
- Discover deals and discounts (36%)
- Brainstorm gift ideas (30%)
- Generate shopping lists (30%)
- Try products virtually (26%)
Although 55% of consumers still distrust shopping agents, the growing number of online shoppers is expressing a positive attitude toward AI.
The use of shopping assistants on online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay is also increasing. Over 250 shoppers have used Amazon’s Rufus in 2025, and the tool’s monthly user base increased by 140% YoY throughout the year.
eBay’s buy-for-me agents are still only available to consumers on the platform’s top marketplaces, like the US, the UK, and Germany.
Nonetheless, the global rollout of eBay’s internal natural language processing shopping tools is expected to continue over the next couple of years, revealing the platform’s dedication to building fully automated shopping experiences for its users.
Which demographics use AI agents for online shopping the most?
As noted earlier, nearly 80% of consumers say that AI enables them to reach purchasing decisions faster.
Hyper-personalization plays an important role in consumers’ purchasing decisions, as 65% of online shoppers expect ecommerce businesses to understand their needs, and 70% expect personalization to be a standard part of the shopping experience.
Furthermore, a recent study revealed that 87% of companies using generative AI have reported improved customer engagement through offering personalized shopping experiences, while fast-growing SMBs experienced a 40% revenue increase from personalization.
Young consumers aged 18 to 34 have the highest AI adoption rates, as 50.5% of shoppers from this age group use AI tools to buy products online, while 40.6% of shoppers on online marketplaces are aged between 35 and 54.
Gen Z and Millennials are the age groups that are most likely to have a positive attitude towards AI chatbots, as 90% of Gen Zers who have already used AI shopping agents say that it improves their customer experience.
Additionally, 46% of Millennials are actively using AI shopping assistants, and 12% of consumers from this age group say they intend to do so in the near future.
Driving conversions with AI
Google’s AI Overviews mode across the US, the UK, and the EU still accounts for only a fraction of total organic traffic on the search engine.
As of early 2026, AI Overviews appear in 14% of shopping queries and have increased by 5.6% in just four months. Also, according to the Adobe Analytics study, in July 2025, the AI-referral traffic to online stores in the US grew by 4700% compared to the same period the previous year.
Ecommerce brands cited in AI overviews experience a 35% increase in click-through rates, and shoppers arriving at product listings from AI sources tend to spend 32% more time than consumers arriving from paid search, organic, social media, or email sources.
The data also suggests that AI shopping assistants boost conversion rates by four times, as 11.4% to 12.3% of consumers who reach product listings through AI-generated recommendations end up purchasing the product.
On the other hand, conversion rates for consumers who don’t use AI tools in their shopping journeys range from 3.1% to 5.3%, depending on the product category.
A handful of online marketplaces dominate the search results in Google’s AI Mode, as 86% of product listings featured in these results come from eBay, while Walmart and Target are among the top five.
Consequently, sellers on these online marketplaces who optimize their listings for generative engines and AI-powered ecommerce search are likely to improve conversion rates across their stores and see a considerable revenue growth.
What are AI investment priorities for ecommerce businesses?
Google, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft are among the biggest investors in machine learning tools and AI systems for ecommerce.
Moreover, eBay, Amazon, and other major ecommerce platforms are investing heavily in developing internal AI algorithms, conversational shopping agents, and tools that enable merchants to automate various aspects of their operations.
eCommerce SMBs are also actively investing in the implementation of AI tools in their processes, as 57% online sellers say they plan to increase their investments in automation tools.
Here’s an overview of how ecommerce businesses are using AI in 2026:
- Customer support automation
- Product recommendations
- Order tracking and status updates
- Personalization
- Inventory management
- Dynamic pricing adjustments
It’s also worth noting that a considerable portion of sellers on online marketplaces rely on internal and third-party tools to create marketing content, localize listing titles and descriptions, as well as to analyze historical data and optimize listings for the platform’s search engine.
AI and the future of ecommerce on online marketplaces
In a constantly evolving ecommerce landscape, gaining a competitive advantage requires staying up to date with the latest market trends.
That’s why independent digital retailers and sellers on online marketplaces alike must integrate AI tools into their daily operations to keep up with the competition and customer behavior.
Galloping adoption rates, growing consumer trust in buy-for-me bots, and a young user base indicate that shopping agents will become a new standard for discovering, researching, and buying products online in the near future.
What’s more, SMBs and enterprise-level ecommerce businesses are already experiencing significant gains from automating their product listing creation, customer care, and inventory management processes.
Do you need assistance optimizing your product listings for eBay marketplaces? Book a demo and find out how Webinterpret can help!
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localization, advertising, and returns, and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business globally.
