65 E-commerce Statistics for 2026
Compiled from 14 studies · Current as of July 2026 · Sourced via The Agile Brand Guide Research
E-commerce in 2026 is being reshaped by AI-driven shopping, record peak-season sales, and a widening readiness gap between retailers. Below are 65 e-commerce statistics for 2026, drawn from 14 studies published in 2025 and 2026 and grouped by theme so you can find the number you need fast.
Every statistic links to its source in The Agile Brand Guide Research database, where you can see the full context, the original report, and an embeddable chart. Use them to benchmark your store, build a business case, or ground your next strategy deck.
Jump to a section: AI-driven commerce & discovery (13) | AI readiness & the commerce tech gap (10) | Omnichannel, unified commerce & fulfillment (12) | Peak season & holiday sales (15) | Payments & BNPL (5) | Trust, reviews & personalization (10)
Key statistics at a glance
- 690% increase in generative-AI-referred traffic to US retail sites year over year during the 2025 holiday season — The Agile Brand Guide, 2026
- 98% of e-commerce sites are unready for AI-driven purchasing — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- Global online sales reached $336.6 billion for Cyber Week and $53 billion on Cyber Monday, representing 7% year-over-year growth. — Salesforce, 2025
- Only 7% of retailers have achieved ‘Leading’ status in unified commerce. — Incisiv, 2026
- $18.2 billion in BNPL revenue was generated during the 2024 holiday season. — Digital Silk, 2025
- 38% of consumers used generative AI for online shopping in 2024, increasing to 51% in 2025. — Stord, 2026
AI-driven commerce & discovery (13 stats)
AI assistants are now sending real traffic and revenue — and changing how shoppers find products.
- 690% increase in generative-AI-referred traffic to US retail sites year over year during the 2025 holiday season — The Agile Brand Guide, 2026
- 4.4 times higher conversion rates from AI-generated product recommendations compared to traditional search — The Agile Brand Guide, 2026
- 58% of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with generative-AI tools for product recommendations — The Agile Brand Guide, 2026
- 38% of consumers used generative AI for online shopping in 2024, increasing to 51% in 2025. — Stord, 2026
- 20% of consumers are more likely to convert when a product is recommended by AI. — Stord, 2026
- 88% of organizations used AI in at least one core function in 2025, up from 78% in 2024. — Stord, 2026
- 95% of retailers report AI implementation actively decreases annual operating costs. — Stord, 2026
- 2/3 of consumers expect checkout in under 4 minutes. — Stord, 2026
- AI-driven traffic to retail sites during the 2025 holiday season increased by 693.4% over 2024. — Adobe, 2026
- AI referrals converted 31% more than other traffic sources during the 2025 holiday season. — Adobe, 2026
- AI-driven revenue per visit increased by 254% year over year during the 2025 holiday season. — Adobe, 2026
- 65% of consumers using AI for online shopping reported feeling more confident in their purchase decisions. — Adobe, 2026
- 68% reported being less likely to return a product after using AI for the purchase. — Adobe, 2026
AI readiness & the commerce tech gap (10 stats)
Most storefronts and product data aren’t ready for AI-driven, agentic purchasing.
- 98% of e-commerce sites are unready for AI-driven purchasing — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- Only 2% of sites achieved ‘AI-Ready’ status with a score of 80 or above — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- 34% of sites scored below 40 on the AI Readiness index, falling into the ‘Critical’ tier — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- 29% of sites scored zero on transactability, making them invisible to AI agents — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- The average overall AI readiness score was 48.1 out of 100 for e-commerce sites — Aidō Lighthouse, 2026
- 28.2% of interaction steps achieved full success — Smarter Sorting, 2026
- 36.5% of interaction steps achieved partial success — Smarter Sorting, 2026
- 35.2% of interaction steps resulted in outright failure — Smarter Sorting, 2026
- Attribute completeness scored a mean of 0.83 out of 2 — Smarter Sorting, 2026
- Availability and Localization stage exhibited a 52.7% failure rate — Smarter Sorting, 2026
Omnichannel, unified commerce & fulfillment (12 stats)
Unified commerce and reliable fulfillment remain the hard, unfinished work of retail.
- 67% of brands are building B2B capabilities to add new channels — Radial, 2026
- 56% of brands operate via marketplace‑fulfilled channels like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to some degree — Radial, 2026
- 80% of brands report that between 25% and 75% of their revenue originates from B2B activities — Radial, 2026
- 53% of shoppers will immediately stop purchasing from a brand if charged for expedited shipping that does not result in faster delivery — Radial, 2026
- 42% of brands identify On‑Time, In‑Full (OTIF) delivery rate as their priority KPI — Radial, 2026
- Only 7% of retailers have achieved ‘Leading’ status in unified commerce. — Incisiv, 2026
- 66% of consumers use two or more channels before completing a purchase. — Incisiv, 2026
- Retailers at higher unified commerce maturity levels demonstrate growth rates twice that of their ‘Basic’ peers. — Incisiv, 2026
- Progression from ‘Basic’ to ‘Leading’ status yields an incremental revenue growth of $17 million for every $1 billion in revenue. — Incisiv, 2026
- Leaders report up to 24% higher customer satisfaction and up to 13% lower churn rates. — Incisiv, 2026
- 56% of consumers prefer updates via SMS while only 12% of brands use SMS for delivery updates — Stord, 2025
- 93% of brands do not send abandoned cart reminders — Stord, 2025
Peak season & holiday sales (15 stats)
Cyber Week and Prime Day keep setting records, increasingly powered by AI and mobile.
- Ad spend increased approximately 10% year-over-year (YoY) during the Pre-Prime Day period — CommerceIQ, 2026
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) reached an impressive $5.80, a nearly two-year high during the Pre-Prime Day period — CommerceIQ, 2026
- Average conversion rates climbed to 29.8%, an increase of approximately 15% YoY during the Pre-Prime Day period — CommerceIQ, 2026
- Stockout-related revenue loss spiked by approximately 24% YoY during the Pre-Prime Day period — CommerceIQ, 2026
- Overall inventory positions have strengthened, with on-hand inventory growing approximately 12% YoY during the Pre-Prime Day period — CommerceIQ, 2026
- Global online sales reached $336.6 billion for Cyber Week and $53 billion on Cyber Monday, representing 7% year-over-year growth. — Salesforce, 2025
- AI and agents impacted $9.3 billion in global online sales on Cyber Monday and $67 billion across Cyber Week. — Salesforce, 2025
- Retailers leveraging branded AI agents observed a 32% faster sales growth compared to those without. — Salesforce, 2025
- Traffic from third-party AI agent channels tripled year-over-year. — Salesforce, 2025
- Mobile devices accounted for 78% of global online traffic and 70% of orders. — Salesforce, 2025
- Global online sales increased by 7% year-over-year (YoY) — Salesforce, 2025
- 72% of global orders originated from a mobile device — Salesforce, 2025
- AI-referred traffic achieved 8x the conversion rate of social media traffic — Salesforce, 2025
- 27% of all global digital orders were made using a mobile device, up from 25% in 2022 — Salesforce, 2025
- Retailers with branded shopping agents experienced 3x greater sales growth — Salesforce, 2025
Payments & BNPL (5 stats)
Flexible payments, led by buy-now-pay-later, are a growing share of online spend.
- $18.2 billion in BNPL revenue was generated during the 2024 holiday season. — Digital Silk, 2025
- BNPL services accounted for nearly $1 billion in purchases on Cyber Monday 2024. — Digital Silk, 2025
- The U.S. BNPL services market is valued at $170.32 billion. — Digital Silk, 2025
- User numbers for BNPL are projected to grow from 86.5 million in 2024 to 91.5 million by 2025. — Digital Silk, 2025
- Up to 6% of all U.S. eCommerce spending now flows through BNPL channels. — Digital Silk, 2025
Trust, reviews & personalization (10 stats)
Authentic reviews and relevant personalization are decisive for online conversion.
- 100% of surveyed shoppers shop online at least monthly — Bazaarvoice, 2026
- 75% express concern about encountering fake reviews online — Bazaarvoice, 2026
- 63% of shoppers think the brand’s website should resolve issues of fraudulent content — Bazaarvoice, 2026
- 70% of consumers would trust an industry-leading, third-party authentication provider to verify content trustworthiness — Bazaarvoice, 2026
- 79% of brands have no reservations about outsourcing content authenticity verification to a third-party vendor — Bazaarvoice, 2026
- 96% of enterprise leaders believe in the value of personalization — Mastercard, 2026
- 63% of enterprise leaders consider personalization a top priority or part of their organizational DNA — Mastercard, 2026
- Only 19% of enterprise leaders currently use quantitative goals to inform their testing programs — Mastercard, 2026
- 71% of brands have identified useful data for personalization but have not integrated it — Mastercard, 2026
- 62% of organizations have not aligned on a singular audience strategy — Mastercard, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How is AI changing e-commerce in 2026?
Substantially. Generative-AI-referred traffic to US retail sites jumped roughly 690% year over year, 38% of consumers used generative AI for online shopping, and AI-driven traffic surged across the 2025 holiday season. AI is now a real acquisition and conversion channel, not an experiment.
Are e-commerce sites ready for AI-driven shopping?
Mostly not. 98% of e-commerce sites are unready for AI-driven purchasing, and product data — the fuel for AI agents — is a major gap. As agentic shopping grows, the readiness gap between leaders and laggards is widening fast.
How big were 2025 holiday online sales?
Record-setting. Global online sales reached $336.6 billion for Cyber Week, with overall online sales up about 7% year over year, and AI and mobile drove a growing share of that spend. Prime Day and other peak events showed similar AI-assisted growth.
What is unified commerce, and how many retailers have achieved it?
Unified commerce connects every channel — online, in-store, mobile, and fulfillment — around a single view of the customer and inventory. Very few have nailed it: only 7% of retailers have reached ‘Leading’ status, leaving most with fragmented channels and fulfillment gaps.
How big is buy-now-pay-later in e-commerce?
Large and growing. BNPL generated $18.2 billion in revenue during the 2024 holiday season, and flexible payment options continue to take share of online checkouts — especially during peak shopping events and among younger shoppers.
Go deeper with the research
Every statistic here comes from The Agile Brand Guide Research database — a curated library of corporate-funded research on AI, marketing, customer experience, and consumer behavior, each study summarized with quotable statistics, key takeaways, and embeddable charts.Explore the E-commerce research →
About this data: These 65 statistics were compiled from 14 research reports published in 2025–2026 and indexed in The Agile Brand Guide Research database. Each figure links to its source summary and original report. Counts are current as of July 2026 and are refreshed as new research is added.
