Similarweb & Statista (2026) — The State of Ecommerce 2026

11.4%

of shopper sessions in the US involved an AI tool as of June 2026, up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier

AI shows up mostly in the middle of the shopping journey, while search spans the whole thing

100

is the topic index score for PCs, Laptops & Accessories in US electronics ChatGPT prompts — every other topic tracked scores 8 or below

+226.3%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to marketplace ecommerce sites worldwide, in the year to June 2026 — even though Gen AI is still just 0.3% of total visits there

Shoppers rely on Gen AI as a consultative guide for navigating hardware compatibility and custom specs when building PCs, not for simpler plug-and-play electronics

AI turns Home shoppers into interior designers, favoring aesthetic room planning over utility retailers

-6.2%

change in visits to Consumer Electronics sites in Poland year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the steepest drop among the markets shown. Brazil (-3.7%) and Germany (-3.5%) follow; worldwide visits were flat (-0.5%)

+22.8%

growth in visits to marketplace sites in Saudi Arabia year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the fastest of the 25 largest markets. South Korea (+15.0%) and India (+14.8%) follow; worldwide growth was +5.5%

+51.2%

growth in visits to beauty sites in India year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the fastest of any market shown. The US (+32.5%) and Australia (+30.9%) follow; worldwide growth was +15.0%

14.1% of US desktop consumer electronics shopping journeys involve AI, the highest share of any ecommerce industry

Fragrance is the lowest-scoring major beauty topic in ChatGPT prompts

Sizing Advice is the smallest major Fashion AI-prompt topic in the US

AI alone produces the shortest shopping sessions; AI and search together produce twice as many site visits

21–26%

of consumers in the US, UK, and Germany report using AI tools to research products online, per Statista's 2026 Global Survey (Jul 2025–Jun 2026).

Shoppers increasingly ask AI shopping assistants for several product attributes at once, not single keywords

Shoppers are more likely to visit the brand an AI recommended than a rival brand, even a week later

89% of AI shopping journeys also involve a regular search engine

+203%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to ecommerce sites worldwide, versus just +1.2% for direct traffic

+208.2%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to Consumer Electronics ecommerce sites worldwide, in the year to June 2026

AI alone converts worse than search alone, and shopping journeys using both convert best

-4.0%

change in visits to marketplace sites in Japan year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), one of only two of the 10 largest markets that shrank, with the UK (-0.9%). Germany grew just 0.4%, against +5.5% worldwide

+12.3%

growth in visits to Consumer Electronics sites in Slovakia year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the fastest of the markets shown. India (+11.0%) and Australia (+10.5%) follow, while worldwide visits were flat (-0.5%)

77

is Skin Care's topic index score for US beauty ChatGPT prompts, second only to Hair Care (indexed to 100)

+259.3%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to Fashion & Apparel ecommerce sites worldwide, in the year to June 2026

Hair Care is the single most common beauty topic in ChatGPT prompts among the categories studied

Generative AI is still a tiny slice of ecommerce traffic, but it's growing over 200% a year in every major sector

In Fashion, AI use cases are spread evenly, with personal styling slightly ahead

33.8%

of US Fashion site visits now come from paid channels (Search + Social + Display), overtaking Direct traffic's 27.8% share for the first time in three years (Jul 2023–Jul 2026).

23%

of US millennials report using AI tools for shopping research — the highest share of any generation, per Statista's 2026 Global Consumer Survey.

+276.2%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to Home & Garden ecommerce sites worldwide, in the year to June 2026

0.4%

of US Fashion site visits come from Gen AI referral traffic — still the smallest of all tracked channels despite growing AI-driven shopping research (Jul 2023–Jul 2026).

11.7%

of US Fashion site visits come from Display advertising, up sharply over the past three years as retailers scaled visual retargeting (Jul 2023–Jul 2026).

-8.3%

change in visits to beauty sites in Russia year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the steepest drop among top beauty markets. Japan fell 5.6%; Germany and Brazil grew just 1.7%, against +15.0% worldwide

+5.0%

growth in visits to Fashion & Apparel sites in Germany year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the slowest of the markets shown. Slovakia (+5.9%) and Poland (+8.2%) also lag far behind the +21.0% worldwide rate

+50.4%

growth in visits to Fashion & Apparel sites in Saudi Arabia year over year (Jul 2025–Jun 2026), the fastest of the 25 largest markets. India (+40.1%) and Brazil (+31.2%) follow; worldwide growth was +21.0%

100

is the topic index score for Home Decor in US Home & Garden ChatGPT prompts, the highest-scoring topic in the category (indexed to top topic = 100)

+271.4%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI referral traffic to Beauty & Cosmetics ecommerce sites worldwide, in the year to June 2026

AI shopping traffic from Amazon Rufus and Alexa to product pages grew 380–567% year-over-year every month from February to June 2026