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Retailers adapt strategies for AI-driven holiday shopping

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AI referrals small but expected to grow

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Retailers create AI-specific sites for better visibility

By Arriana McLymore

NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Big retailers traditionally

spend millions on attracting eyeballs for the holiday season.

Now, they're looking to get noticed by something else - AI

agents.

Most of this holiday season's projected $253 billion in U.S.

online sales will happen through website visits or standard

online searches that favor companies that spend big on search

engine ads.

But chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini have

become part of the mix, with shopper-facing tools that can give

product descriptions, compare prices, or allow purchases

directly within large-language models as U.S. consumers

increasingly use AI for advice on the best holiday stocking

stuffers.

"We've seen brands that previously were putting out three

or four new blog posts or articles a month, are now trying to do

100 or 200," said Brian Stempeck, chief executive at generative

engine optimization platform Evertune.ai, which works with

clients to make their websites discoverable by large language

models.

The company charges "around $3,000" per month to its

clients, which include apparel and shoe companies, for its

services, Stempeck said.

Traditionally, retailers based their Google and Meta

ad placements on phrases that users searched for or

links they previously clicked.

Without the ability to advertise in the largest generative

AI tools, companies are trying new methods, like posting more

frequently on branded blogs or writing about their products on

Reddit ( RDDT ).

Big retailers are building websites that cannot be seen by

shoppers, intended to be read solely by AI scrapers, automated

data extraction tools that scour the internet for information.

The scrapers then feed information to platforms like ChatGPT

and Gemini, which then offer suggestions on gifts, apparel and

other holiday merchandise.

SMALL TRAFFIC, MORE INTENT

Traffic to retail websites from generative AI platforms is

currently still a fraction of overall activity. ChatGPT

referrals to Amazon ( AMZN ), Walmart ( WMT ) and eBay ( EBAY ) in October accounted for

less than 1% of each site's overall traffic, according to data

firm Sensor Tower. EBay ( EBAY ) said while traffic from AI sources is a

small percentage of overall traffic, shoppers finding its links

through agentic AI come to the online marketplace with high

intent.

Walmart ( WMT ) did not respond to a request for comment.

But retailers clearly see an opportunity. Bed linen company

Brooklinen is paying social media influencers to talk about its

bath towels and comforters on platforms like Facebook, YouTube,

and TikTok, Brooklinen Chief Operating Officer Rachel Levy said.

AI scrapers pull information from the text of product reviews

and audio transcripts on these posts.

Brooklinen has also submitted its $199 comforter for awards

from publications like the New York Times' ( NYT ) Wirecutter to boost

its chances of appearing in AI agent responses.

Currently, traffic from agentic AI sources is "super small,"

she said, because Gen Z, the biggest adopter of tools like

ChatGPT, has less buying power than older generations.

Miami-based hair care company R+Co is buying ads on Amazon's ( AMZN )

voice assistant Alexa based on the questions that customers are

asking its Rufus agent, R+Co President Dan Langer said.

Google recently introduced features that help shoppers use

AI to track prices and buy goods, a task that can only happen if

retailers' products are easily found by the tech giant's

scrapers. Its AI mode and Gemini chatbot consider numerous

factors, such as store locations or retailer quality when

referring links to users, said Lilian Rincon, vice president of

product for Google Shopping.

Google is testing ads in AI Mode currently in the U.S., but

not the Gemini app, the company said. Existing Shopping and

Performance Max ad product campaigns are eligible to show up in

AI mode through the testing, the company said.

Amazon ( AMZN ) CEO Andy Jassy said on the company's October earnings

call that shoppers who use Rufus are 60% more likely to buy

products. Among large retailers, Walmart ( WMT ) and Target ( TGT ) both

recently announced plans for apps to allow people to shop

directly with chatbots.