Retailers Adapt Strategies Amid AI Revolution
New York, Reuters — November 27, 2025, 12:27 PM — In a shifting retail landscape, major retailers are reallocating substantial investment from traditional marketing to capture the interest of artificial intelligence (AI) agents as the holiday season approaches.
This year, the projected $253 billion in online sales in the United States is expected to be driven primarily by website visits and conventional online searches that favor companies proficient in search engine advertising.
However, an emerging facet of this equation involves the adoption of chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, which provide consumers with product details, price comparisons, and direct purchasing options through expansive language models.
As shoppers increasingly seek AI-guided assistance for optimal holiday gift selection, the role of these tools is becoming pivotal.
“We’ve witnessed brands that typically published three or four blog entries monthly now striving to generate a staggering 100 to 200,” remarked Brian Stempeck, CEO of Evertune.ai, a company dedicated to enhancing website visibility through generative optimization.
Evertune.ai charges clients approximately $3,000 per month for its services, catering to businesses in sectors such as apparel and footwear.
Traditionally, retailers determined their Google and Meta ad placements by analyzing search queries and user engagement metrics.
Yet, in lieu of advertising within the largest generative AI platforms, companies are experimenting with novel strategies, including frequent updates to branded blogs and crafting content around their products on platforms like Reddit.
Moreover, prominent retailers are developing unseen webpages, crafted specifically for AI scrapers—automated tools designed to extract information across the Internet. These scrapers subsequently relay details to platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini, which offer insights into gifts, clothing, and other holiday merchandise.
Small Traffic, High Intent
Currently, traffic driven to retail websites by generative AI is a mere fraction of total activity. Data from Sensor Tower indicates that referrals from ChatGPT to major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and eBay constituted less than 1% of each site’s overall visitors in October.
Despite the low volume, eBay noted that users arriving via AI sources exhibit significantly higher purchasing intent.
Walmart has yet to provide a comment on its strategies regarding AI traffic.
Recognizing the untapped potential, retailers like Brooklinen are enlisting social media influencers to promote products such as bath towels and comforters across platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
Brooklinen’s Chief Operating Officer, Rachel Levy, explained that AI scrapers harvest information from product reviews and audio transcripts found in these promotional posts.
Additionally, Brooklinen has submitted its $199 comforter for recognition from esteemed publications like the New York Times’ Wirecutter to enhance its visibility in AI-generated responses.
However, Levy noted that the current traffic from AI sources remains “marginal,” especially since Generation Z—predominantly utilizing tools like ChatGPT—holds comparatively less purchasing power than older cohorts.
In a parallel vein, R+Co, a Miami-based haircare brand, has begun investing in ads on Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, predicated on common customer inquiries directed at its Rufus agent, according to R+Co President Dan Langer.
In an adaptive response, Google has unveiled features designed to assist consumers in price tracking and purchasing goods via AI, contingent on retailers sharing product specifics within Google’s merchant center or ensuring their offerings are easily accessible to AI scrapers.
The Google Shopping AI mode, alongside the Gemini chatbot, weighs multiple factors—including store location and overall retailer quality—when suggesting links to consumers, as articulated by Lilian Rincon, Google Shopping’s vice president of product.
Although Google is currently testing AI mode ads in the U.S., it has confirmed that these functionalities do not extend to the Gemini app just yet. Current iterations of Shopping and Performance Max campaigns may participate in this testing phase.
On Monday, ChatGPT introduced further shopping features to facilitate product comparisons and searches for similar merchandise.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy remarked during the company’s October earnings call that consumers interacting with the Rufus assistant are 60% more inclined to complete purchases.
In an industry shift, both Walmart and Target recently revealed initiatives aimed at enabling direct shopping through chatbot interfaces.
Source link: Thedailystar.net.
