What: Despite the surge in AI-assisted shopping, e-commerce retailers remain focused on traditional website experiences, missing the shift toward AI-optimised customer journeys.

Why it is important: As AI agents become central to shopping journeys, retailers who fail to optimize for these technologies risk losing visibility and relevance, a trend confirmed by leading industry analyses.

The latest study by Converteo reveals a widening gap between consumer expectations and retailer strategies in the age of AI-driven commerce. While nearly 40% of French consumers have already used generative AI to support their purchases, and over half express trust in AI for shopping decisions, most e-commerce retailers are still refining outdated website models designed for human navigation. The research highlights that traffic from AI-powered search engines, though currently a small share, is growing exponentially and is highly qualified, signaling a pivotal shift in how consumers discover and interact with brands. Retailers have begun integrating chatbots and AI-generated content, but these incremental changes fall short of the profound transformation required. To remain competitive, brands must redesign their digital platforms for AI compatibility, focusing on adaptive, context-aware experiences and enriched product data streams. The study underscores that failing to adapt to this new paradigm risks eroding direct customer relationships and losing ground to competitors who embrace AI-optimised commerce.

IADS Notes: The Converteo study’s warning about the urgent need for e-commerce retailers to overhaul their digital platforms for AI compatibility is strongly echoed in recent industry analyses from Inside Retail, McKinsey, Forbes, and BCG. Throughout 2025 and into early 2026, these sources have documented a dramatic surge in AI-driven retail traffic and a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour, with platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini driving an 830% increase in qualified visits and significantly higher conversion rates, as reported by Forbes in November 2025. Retailers are responding by adopting AI-optimised marketing tactics, structured data, and invisible websites to ensure their products are accessible to AI agents, as highlighted by Inside Retail and McKinsey in November 2025. This transformation is not merely technical but strategic, requiring brands to rethink business models, invest in robust data infrastructure, and prioritize machine-readable, authoritative content to remain visible in an algorithm-first marketplace, as BCG noted in January 2026. As generative AI becomes a trusted advisor for consumers, brands that fail to adapt risk losing relevance and direct customer relationships, while those who embrace agent-ready systems and adaptive experiences are poised to shape the future of retail.

AI commerce is booming, and e-commerce retailers are looking the other way

AI & Agentic commerce: The guide to transforming your customer experience -  Converteo study, French