AI Is Rewiring Where We Click and Shop 🧲

AI is quietly flipping the script on retail. Search engines are still the front door, but AI now guides more shoppers to checkout. Omnichannel is table stakes, and value is no longer just for the budget aisle. Here’s what’s changing the game this week.

Main Story
AI Is Rewiring Where We Click and Shop 🧲
Shoppers Start Their Search on Google 🧭

Insights🧠
🛒 Value Chains: From Survival to Status Symbol
🌍 Temu: The Amazon of the East Moves West
🧺 The Small Basket Revolution

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- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder

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AI is quietly changing how we shop and which sites we visit, putting giants like Google, OpenAI, and YouTube at the center of the new digital map. A September 2025 Similarweb report uses AI referral data and conversion rates to show that chatbots now drive serious buying intent, outpacing search, social, and traditional channels. The analysis draws from millions of referral visits and global channel leaders, proving AI engines don’t just answer questions—they shape the path to purchase.

In just 12 months, ChatGPT’s ability to turn browsers into buyers has shot up, nearly doubling its US retail conversion rate and hitting 11% in June ’25. This outpaces even direct traffic, paid search, or email, and signals that people aren’t just experimenting with AI—they’re trusting it to guide their final shopping decisions. The trendline points sharply upward, showing that AI is doing more than chatting: it’s closing the deal and driving the highest growth in digital retail.

When it comes to convincing shoppers to buy, ChatGPT leaves every channel behind. Its 11.4% conversion rate for US retail in June ’25 beats direct visits, paid search, and social—channels that have led the pack for years. Even email and display ads lag far behind. For brands and retailers, the message is clear: if you want to capture high-intent shoppers, optimizing for AI-driven answers is now more valuable than bidding for clicks or inbox space.

AI chatbots don’t send users just anywhere—they send them to the biggest platforms. Google received 51.7 million AI-driven visits in August, OpenAI landed 41 million, and YouTube took 30.7 million. Social and reference sites like Reddit, Wikipedia, and Facebook round out the top ten, but none come close to the top three. The AI referral ecosystem is already heavily concentrated, with most visits funneled to a handful of familiar giants.

Breakouts by sector show clear leaders: Reddit dominates social networks with 11.3 million AI-driven visits, Facebook follows at 10.1 million, and Instagram takes third. In consumer electronics, Samsung pulls ahead of Apple and Best Buy. For graphics and design, Canva is the undisputed champion, winning far more AI referrals than remove.bg or Photopea. These winners succeed not by accident, but because AI engines recognize their utility, community, and authority in their categories.

Sources: 🔒 Available for MarketMaze+ subscribers

Most DTC founders don’t scale too early,
they scale without enough margin.

This quick Profit Pulse tool shows if your pricing and AOV can actually sustain your CAC…
Or if you're quietly bleeding cash with every click.

✔ Built for €10k–€60k/month brands
✔ 100% free, no signup
✔ Used before raising budgets or hiring agencies

Check yours before Q4 kicks off. It might save your Black Friday.

👉 Try the Profit Pulse Check

The holiday shopping race is on, and most consumers start with a search engine. According to the 2025 Global Holiday Shopper Report, fielded June 24–30 with 6,000 respondents from the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, search bars—not brands or social—are the true front door to the season. Four slides reveal why mastering search, AI, and omnichannel is the only way to win this year.

A full 31% of global shoppers—and even more in ANZ—start their gift search on search engines, not on Amazon, Walmart, or TikTok. In the UK, 30% use search first, beating out marketplaces. In the US, marketplaces still edge out search, but the message is clear: if your products aren’t easy to find on Google or Bing, you’re invisible to most holiday buyers. Invest in SEO and on-site search, or get left out in the cold.

Consumers want GenAI assistants that compare products (41%), keep them within budget (35%), and explain what’s what (31%). But here’s the kicker: 28% wouldn’t use AI for shopping at all. Shoppers are open to inspiration and lists—each at 24%—but nearly a third just don’t trust the bot yet. Smart brands will prioritise comparison tools and budget calculators, while steadily building trust in AI for the next holiday wave.

This year, 44% of shoppers plan to split their holiday spending evenly between online and in-store, while just 28% expect to buy mostly online. In-store loyalists are now a minority, with only 6% saying they’ll shop only in physical stores. Pure online-only shoppers are barely higher at 11%. Omnichannel isn’t a buzzword, it’s the baseline expectation: seamless experiences across every channel are now table stakes.

When it comes to BFCM, shoppers flex their channel muscles. For fashion, 51% will use both online and in-store; electronics and big box see nearly as much crossover. DIY and home categories skew in-store but still see 41% buying through both. Other categories are even more fragmented. The big takeaway? Brands can’t afford to bet on a single channel. Success comes from being everywhere shoppers want to find you—at every click, tap, and checkout.

Sources: 🔒 Available for MarketMaze+ subscribers

Most DTC founders don’t scale too early,
they scale without enough margin.

This quick Profit Pulse tool shows if your pricing and AOV can actually sustain your CAC…
Or if you're quietly bleeding cash with every click.

✔ Built for €10k–€60k/month brands
✔ 100% free, no signup
✔ Used before raising budgets or hiring agencies

Check yours before Q4 kicks off. It might save your Black Friday.

👉 Try the Profit Pulse Check

Let’s be honest: nobody dreams of shopping at Dollar General. But in 2025, everyone’s doing it—even the folks who used to scoff at the “value” aisle. GlobalData’s chart is a mic-drop: nearly 90% of low-income, 59% of middle, and 28% of high-income Americans will shop value this year, up from single digits for high earners a decade ago. What happened? Inflation hit, and suddenly “saving money” was sexy—even for people in Lululemon. Dollar General grew sales +288% since 2008, Dollar Tree +1,167%. Walmart and Aldi joined the party. This isn’t just penny-pinching—it’s middle-class FOMO (fear of missing out) on bargains. And don’t forget convenience: in rural America, Dollar General is the town square. The message: status is out, savings are in. 👉 LinkedIn

Temu didn’t just show up in Europe—it crashed the party. ECDB’s map shows Temu in the top 3 eCommerce spots in 10 Central and Eastern European countries, already #1 in Finland and Slovenia, #4 in Czechia and Slovakia, #5 in heavyweight markets like Germany, Poland, and Italy. Not bad for a company founded in 2022. GMV? $14B in 2023, $54B by 2024. Temu’s secret sauce is simple: ship direct from China, bulldoze prices, blitz with ads. Sure, critics gripe about quality, but let’s be real—consumers care more about saving €3 than reading the fine print. Even Amazon can’t keep them out of every market. Temu’s just getting started, and every retailer in Europe should be sweating. 👉 ECDB

NIQ nails the shift in Western Europe: shoppers are buying less per trip, but hitting the stores more often. Frequency is up in France (+5.8%), Germany (+4.4%), Italy (+8%), Spain (+10.9%), and the UK (+5.4%). At the same time, spend per trip and units per trip are down—sometimes by 5–7%. Fifty-three percent of consumers now make more thoughtful, needs-driven choices. The message: retailers need to win on frequency, not just basket size. 👉 LinkedIn

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