Retailers Steer AI Traffic Back to Own Checkouts

Retailers are looking to market their products through artificial intelligence platforms while bringing the transactions and data that come with them to their own platforms, Reuters reported Friday (Aug. 7).

While they want to tap into the growing amount of online traffic going through AI platforms, retailers want to retain the purchases and data that can support future sales and customer loyalty, according to the report.

Ulta Beauty is incorporating shopping carts and its loyalty program into Google’s Gemini because customers are finding its products there, but the company would prefer that customers complete transactions on its own website, Josh Friedman, head of digital and eCommerce at Ulta Beauty, said in the report.

“Whether it’s Google search, affiliate marketing [or] Facebook, there’s always a tax for engaging customers on other people’s platforms,” Friedman said. “I don’t think this is any different.”

Amazon Web Services (AWS) encourages its retail clients to market products on AI platforms while ensuring shoppers buy on their own websites, according to the report.

“When a shopper completes a purchase on a brand’s own site […] the retailer maintains a direct relationship with that customer,” Vince Koh, global head of digital commerce at AWS, said in the report.

The Knot is optimizing its website so its wedding services vendors appear in ChatGPT results, but it encourages customers to transact on its own website because “we have three decades of data to help” them coordinate weddings, The Knot CEO Raina Moskowitz said in the report.

Etsy has found that users who find products through ChatGPT tend to complete the purchases on Etsy’s website, Rafe Colburn, chief product and technology officer at Etsy, said in the report.

“It’s the start of a deeper relationship, and not just one that’s always intermediated by ChatGPT,” Colburn said.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The 50 Million Consumer Migration: The Data Behind Retail’s Shift Toward AI Discovery” found that 49.6 million adults in the United States, about 19% of the population, begin their retail product search with AI.

Among these consumers, 39 million mainly start their retail search with AI, while the other 10.6 million use AI alongside traditional channels, according to the report.

“A shopper may begin with Gemini or Claude, then return to Amazon, traditional search or a merchant site to complete the sale,” the report said. “That distinction will become increasingly important as AI-led discovery moves closer to checkout.”

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