Artificial intelligence significantly reshaped the 2025 holiday shopping season, with generative AI-driven traffic to retail websites growing by about 693 % year-over-year, according to Adobe data, and those AI referrals converting at higher rates than traditional channels.

It isn’t only boosting discovery and engagement, it’s becoming a core part of how consumers research products and make decisions, forcing marketers and retailers to rethink search and promotional strategies. This surge reflects broader industry trends of rising use of AI tools for tasks like personalised recommendations, price comparisons and customer engagement throughout the holiday shopping journey, and suggests AI will play an increasingly central role in retail commerce