The ecommerce space is undergoing major changes when it comes to how people shop. They discover products in new ways, use new tools and technologies as they search, and even buy products in different places than they used to.
Because of these changes, and what they mean for customer expectations, preferences, and behaviors, ecommerce brands need to make sure they’re keeping up with them. Keeping up with these trends and changes may help brands improve conversions, reduce acquisition costs, and meet new expectations.
AI is Changing the Customer Journey
One of the biggest drivers of these customer journey changes is AI. In June 2026, AI appeared in 11.4% of all shopping journeys that led to a transaction, up from only 4.5% in July 2024. While AI is still only involved in a small portion of all shopping journeys, the growth and impact it has had in such a short period of time is impossible to ignore.
These stats, and the others included in this article, come from Similarweb’s brand-new State of Ecommerce 2026 report.
AI’s role in the customer journey is strongest during the research and discovery process, and when customers are narrowing their choices and deciding what to buy. The report also found that AI is often concentrated in the middle of the journey. People don’t often visit AI first, or right before a transaction, but it appears as a middle touchpoint in 76% of journeys that feature AI.
However, AI is also slowly expanding from the middle and developing a bigger role throughout the customer journey. In fact, since July 2024, the share of AI journeys in which it appears as a
middle touchpoint fell from just under 81% to 76%. Conversely, AI’s presence at the start of the journey went from 19.5% to 23.2%, and from 14.5% to 18.4% at the end.
Some companies are even implementing AI within their own platform’s shopping journey. For example, online furniture and home decor retailer Wayfair announced that it was aiming to embed AI capabilities at multiple touchpoints along its customer journey, showing that even near the end of the journey, AI still has a role to play.
Search Isn’t Going Anywhere
But despite the rise of AI as an important part of the customer journey, search isn’t going anywhere. In fact, among the journeys that use AI, 89% of them also use search, while only 11% just use AI on its own. While AI is great for exploring ideas and comparing options, these results show that people still rely heavily on search when shopping online.
Also, search has a role throughout the purchase journey, as it appears as the first, middle, and last touchpoint in at least half of search journeys. So while AI is a new and important part of the shopping journey for consumers, it’s nowhere near a point where it replaces search.
As a result, while many brands are adapting their strategies to target AI traffic and going all-in on AI, it’s still crucial to optimize for human search, as many people still use it throughout their journey.
Shopping Journeys are Increasingly Moving to Apps
In addition to people increasingly using AI in their shopping journeys, another shift is that shopping journeys are migrating away from websites and towards apps.
While site visits and unique visitors have grown by 6.8% and 5.8% respectively between July 2025 and June 2026, app sessions have grown by 8.6% in that same period. This makes sense, as apps offer benefits to both brands and customers alike.
For brands and retailers, apps often provide greater control, better browsing-behavior capture, and richer data in general. For customers, shopping on apps often provides a better and more mobile-friendly shopping experience, better deals, and personalized notifications.
The Importance of a Good Customer Journey
Staying up to date on the journey consumers take is crucial to understanding buyer behavior and being aware of things like emerging channels and marketplace shifts. The more you know about the customer journey and how people are discovering new brands and products, the better you can tailor your offer to line up with the way people browse, discover, and shop.
Because the customer journey doesn’t stop when they discover your product, you need to ensure that the journey you provide in your app or store meets their expectations. If the customer has an easy time discovering your product in search or through an AI recommendation, but then struggles to convert on your site or app, it can cost you a sale.
As a result, if you’re able to guide people smoothly through their journey, it can go a long way in helping you improve conversions, reduce acquisition costs, and ensure you meet new and evolving expectations.
Our Take
Take Steps to Improve Your Customer Journey
As the customer journey throughout the “information search” and “evaluation of alternatives” steps of the consumer buying process get more smooth and straightforward, customers begin to expect the same seamless and frictionless experience when they get to your online store.
As a result, all brands need to evolve their strategies to meet these growing customer journey expectations. Some ways to boost your customer journey include hyper-personalizing interactions, offering clear and easy-to-find product information and details, providing flexible payment options, and identifying any points of friction and removing them.
Also, don’t hesitate to read up on the main reasons people are likely abandoning their carts, so you can stop losing customers at the last moment.
