PYMNTS Intelligence tracked where shoppers' most recent AI-assisted purchase actually closed1. Amazon took 59.7 percent of those sales, and a brand's own website took 6.3 percent. Big-box and department stores combined took 19.5 percent2. A chatbot did the research, and Amazon still closed the sale.
That habit is already wide. About 23 percent of U.S. consumers, or 61 million people, now start their shopping research with an AI agent2. A store with a weak AI plan hands that research step to a rival for free.
Amazon closes 59.7% of AI-assisted purchases, department stores just 19.5%
Share of shoppers' most recent AI-assisted purchase, by where it closed, PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,191 U.S. consumers
Each bar is the share of recent AI-assisted purchases that closed at that kind of seller; the rest closed at marketplaces and sites PYMNTS Intelligence tracked separately.
These three sellers leave out a remaining share that closed at other marketplaces and channels the survey tracked separately.
Sources: PYMNTS [1]; PYMNTS [2]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Amazon | 59.7% |
| Big-box and department stores | 19.5% |
| Brand's own website or app | 6.3% |
Deloitte found a reason to relax two weeks earlier3. Just 39 percent of holiday shoppers call generative AI their main tool for one shopping task this year. Only 16 percent would let that tool finish the purchase. Executives read the gap as proof: a human keeps the final click, so a department store with a sharper chatbot still keeps the sale.
Shoppers told PYMNTS Intelligence they would send an AI agent to a department store 21.8 percent of the time1. A brand's own website drew just 16.1 percent of that same preference, under identical price, shipping and returns. Real purchases landed at a department store only 19.5 percent of the time. Amazon, preferred outright by just 40.2 percent, still took 59.7 percent of the sale.
21.8% of shoppers say they would pick a department store, but only 19.5% of real purchases land there
Stated seller choice under equal price, shipping and returns, against where the last AI-assisted purchase actually closed
The blue dot is the share who said they would pick that seller; the magenta dot is the share whose last AI-assisted purchase actually closed there; the rod is the gap between saying and doing.
Sources: PYMNTS [1]; PYMNTS [2]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Said they would pick | Actually closed there |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon or a large marketplace | 40.2% | 59.7% |
| Department store or large retailer | 21.8% | 19.5% |
| Brand's own website | 16.1% | 6.3% |
Shoppers who stuck with marketplaces named reliable returns most often, then selection, then plain habit1. Habit and return policy decide where the sale closes, apart from who recommended the item first. Macy's and Kohl's are both spending to change that habit.
Max Magni, Macy's chief customer and digital officer, calls the new tool, Ask Macy's, a break from plain search4. "It's not about search," Magni said. "It's about curated discovery. We're not just giving customers what they're searching for, but what they need and what they want."
Shoppers who used the Google Gemini-built tool during its beta spent 400 percent more per visit than shoppers who skipped it4. Macy's calls that proof the bet is paying off.
Kohl's chief executive Michael Bender described the same pattern to analysts in late August5. "Adoption is still small, but customers who engage with our AI shopping assistant are showing stronger conversion and higher revenue per visit," Bender said. He wants the tool guiding gifts and purchase confidence through the holidays.
Jeremy Bowman, a Motley Fool stock analyst who covers retail, read the same earnings call and landed somewhere else5. "The AI-powered shopping assistant is a good idea, and it should help solve some of the problems CEO Michael Bender has identified, like customers not being able to find what they're looking for, but I don't think it's enough by itself to turn the business around," Bowman said. "It may be one of the last department store chains standing, but that's not an enviable position when Walmart is cutting prices, and Amazon keeps speeding up delivery," he said.
Macy's and Kohl's pay Google to run the chatbot engine, buying a sharper register for shoppers Amazon counts as its own45. Amazon spends little on that same traffic, because habit and return policy already send shoppers its way1. Floor associates who used to greet a shopper at the door now compete with a chatbot their own employer built. Amazon skips that cost, and still keeps the business.
A chatbot that studies a shopper's size and style is worth building. Kohl's comparable sales fell 0.9 percent the same quarter its AI tool lifted sales5. A sharper feature and a stronger business stay two different things. Confusing them means spending the holiday budget on the wrong fix.
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Sources
- PYMNTS, "Shoppers Would Send AI Agents to Marketplaces Over Brand Sites," PYMNTS, Oct. 23, 2026, https://www.pymnts.com/commerce/ecommerce/2026/shoppers-would-send-ai-agents-to-marketplaces-over-brand-sites/
- PYMNTS, "AI Agents Knock. Retailers Decide How Wide to Open the Door.," PYMNTS, Oct. 5, 2026, https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2026/ai-agents-knock-retailers-decide-how-wide-to-open-the-door/
- Deloitte, "2026 Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey," Deloitte Insights, Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/retail-distribution/holiday-retail-sales-consumer-survey.html
- Brett Edward Stout, "Macy's New AI-Powered Shopping Assistant Brings Browsing to Online Shopping," MR Magazine, Apr. 2, 2026, https://mr-mag.com/macys-new-ai-powered-shopping-assistant-brings-browsing-to-online-shopping/
- Kevin Williams, "Kohl's digital sales grow as AI shopping tools help conversion, despite Q2 overall sales decline," Digital Commerce 360, Sept. 1, 2026, https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2026/09/01/kohls-digital-sales-ai-shopping-conversion-q2-fy26/