AI Shopping Sends Higher-Intent Leads to Ulta and Etsy

Industry
โดย Reuters·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Ulta Beauty and Etsy are seeing AI-referred shoppers convert at roughly twice the rate of traditional traffic, according to a Reuters report citing Adobe Analytics data showing 41% of U.S. consumers used generative AI for online shopping in June. Ulta said visitors arriving through Gemini and ChatGPT showed about double the conversion and purchase intent, while Etsy said shoppers may discover products through ChatGPT but generally return to Etsy to transact. OpenAI ended its standalone Instant Checkout tool in March and shifted toward product discovery followed by merchant-owned checkout, leaving retailers in control of the transaction. Ulta's loyalty program, with more than 46 million members generating about 95% of U.S. sales, gives it a stronger defense against AI platforms capturing the customer relationship, while Etsy retains checkout and seller access but faces risk if chatbots replace marketplace browsing and weaken its on-site advertising. The key question is whether retailers can convert AI-generated transactions into direct customer relationships as Google, Amazon and other platforms move closer to the transaction.

Impact on stocks 4

Consumer Discretionary · 2 stocks
Etsy, Inc.
ETSY
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

AI-referred shoppers convert at double the rate, and Etsy retains checkout and seller access.

Ulta Beauty Inc
ULTA
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

AI-referred shoppers show double conversion and purchase intent, and loyalty program defends customer relationships.

Artificial Intelligence · 2 stocks

Theme Impact 1

Off-coverage companies 1

OpenAIPrivate± Mixed
Technologyrelevance

OpenAI's shift to product discovery is mentioned, but the company is private and not directly impacted.

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