Besides boosting sales, AI assistants are helping smaller labels reach new audiences. Roughly half of one Silicon Valley shopper’s purchases this season came from brands she had never seen before, underscoring the discovery potential of conversational search compared with traditional keyword-based queries.
Retailers race to integrate with chatbots
Facing rapidly changing consumer habits, large chains have unveiled a range of responses. Walmart, Target and Etsy have each signed agreements with OpenAI that allow customers to locate and, in some cases, buy items without leaving ChatGPT.
- Walmart announced its partnership in October and has not disclosed a launch date. The company’s mobile app already features an in-house agent called “Sparky,” which offers product suggestions and builds event-specific shopping lists.
- Target introduced a beta program last month enabling ChatGPT users to place multi-item orders, including groceries, for delivery or curbside pickup. Internally, the retailer operates “Target Gift Finder,” an AI tool now in its second holiday season.
- Etsy was among the first to adopt OpenAI’s Instant Checkout capability, allowing U.S. shoppers to complete single-item transactions directly inside ChatGPT. Several Shopify merchants—including Skims, Vuori and Spanx—have begun rolling out similar functionality.
Amazon, by contrast, has restricted outside chatbots from crawling its product catalog and has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity over data use. The e-commerce giant markets its own assistant, “Rufus,” inside the Amazon app.
Shift from SEO to AEO
The migration toward conversational search is disrupting long-standing digital marketing tactics. For years, retailers relied on search engine optimization (SEO) to push links higher on Google results pages. With answer engine optimization (AEO), visibility depends on whether a chatbot deems a listing the most relevant answer—not on paid placement.
Apparel chain PacSun, noting falling traffic from social media ads, is restructuring its site so AI crawlers can read detailed gift and style guides. Specialty beauty brand Ethique reported a 90 percent jump in AI-driven visits after it rewrote product pages to emphasize frequently asked consumer questions, ingredient disclosures and supply-chain data.
Target estimates that a quarter of searches on its own platforms are now phrased conversationally rather than as simple keywords. To improve ranking inside chatbots, the company is enriching item descriptions with features such as sustainable fabrics or thematic relevance to current trends.
Imagem: Internet
Balancing old and new channels
Retailers must cater to early adopters of AI while maintaining conventional avenues for shoppers who still prefer browsing websites or visiting stores. Executives at Novi, a technology consultancy assisting brands with the transition, report a “major surge” in demand for guidance as marketers reallocate budgets away from social platforms and toward AI visibility.
The investment is substantial. Ethique’s management described higher staffing and consulting costs compared with traditional SEO. However, the company noted that visitors routed through AI arrive better informed and display stronger buying intent, helping justify the expense.
Mixed consumer reception
Although many users praise AI for streamlining gift selection, others encounter limitations. Some chatbots offer repetitive or overly generic recommendations, prompting certain shoppers to revert to manual browsing. Retail analysts caution that the technology remains in early development and will require ongoing refinement to match the variety and spontaneity of in-store discovery.
Even so, retailers are positioning generative AI as a long-term growth driver. On a recent earnings call, Walmart executives highlighted agentic AI as a pillar of future e-commerce expansion, while incoming CEO John Furner said Sparky will eventually remind customers about reorders.
With billions in holiday revenue now influenced by conversational search, the 2023 peak season is emerging as an inflection point for how products are found and purchased online. Industry observers expect experimentation to accelerate in the months ahead as merchants seek the optimal blend of human and machine-guided shopping.
Crédito da imagem: CNBC
