In the recent Black Friday shopping season, ChatGPT emerged as a new channel for e-commerce traffic, showing significant growth trends. According to the latest data from mobile app analytics company Apptopia, the number of sessions directed to retail apps via ChatGPT increased by 28% year-over-year from Thanksgiving Thursday to Black Friday. Despite the impressive growth, ChatGPT's contribution to overall e-commerce traffic remains relatively limited.
According to the data, the traffic directed by ChatGPT to retail apps mainly concentrated on major e-commerce platforms. Specifically, Amazon accounted for 54% of the share this year, up 13.5 percentage points from last year, while Walmart's share rose from 2.7% to 14.9%. Analysts point out that when consumers use AI chatbots to look for products or promotions, they tend to be guided to these e-commerce giants, further solidifying their market position.
Notably, Apptopia defines "traffic sessions" as retail app sessions opened within 30 seconds after users interact with ChatGPT. Although the year-over-year growth is significant, the role of AI chatbots in e-commerce traffic is still considered a "niche channel." For example, on Black Friday 2024, ChatGPT-driven sessions accounted for only 0.64% of all sessions, and this proportion was 0.82% this year.
Additionally, Adobe also monitored the impact of AI traffic on retail websites during the holiday shopping season. Its data shows that AI-generated traffic to U.S. retail websites surged by 805% on Black Friday, and users driven by AI had a 38% higher purchase conversion rate compared to other users. During Cyber Monday, AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail websites grew by 670%. From November 1 to December 1, the total AI-related traffic during the holiday shopping season increased by approximately 760% compared to the same period last year.
Key Points:
🌟 ChatGPT saw a 28% year-over-year increase in traffic sessions during the Black Friday shopping season.
📈 The market share of Amazon and Walmart in ChatGPT-driven traffic has significantly increased.
🤖 Users driven by AI have a significantly higher purchase probability than other users, indicating that AI's influence in e-commerce is growing.
