Recent data shows ChatGPT’s growing influence as a referrer to e-commerce sites, and the miniature share of that market it currently has.
According to up-to-date analysis from a mobile app analytics provider ApptopiaChatGPT commands to merchant mobile apps increased 28% year-over-year during the Black Friday shopping weekend, which runs from Thursday through Thanksgiving.
However, using ChatGPT may not benefit smaller retailers, but it does lend a hand to further strengthen e-commerce giants Amazon and Walmart. This year, Amazon’s share of ChatGPT referrals increased to 54%, up from 40.5% in 2024. Meanwhile, Walmart’s share increased from 2.7% last year to the current 14.9%.
The data was collected by the American Apptopia panel, which is based on observed consumer activity on mobile devices. As these are not our own data, the numbers provided are estimates only. For this analysis, the company defined a referral session as a mobile app session that immediately follows a ChatGPT session (within 30 seconds).
Apptopia noted that despite the substantial jump from 2024, consumer utilize of AI-powered chatbots to find e-commerce deals still represents a miniature portion of the overall referral market. Last year, ChatGPT referrals to e-commerce applications accounted for just 0.64% of all ChatGPT sessions on Black Friday, and this year that number only increased to 0.82%.
In this case, a referral session occurred anytime ChatGPT gave the searcher a shopping idea or the user clicked a link directly in the chat session that took them to the retail app.
Apptopia isn’t the only company exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on e-commerce during the busy holiday shopping season. Adobe also reported this week that on Black Friday, AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites (measured by customer link clicks) increased 805% year-over-year, and people who arrived at the retail site via an AI chatbot were 38% more likely to make a purchase.
Additionally, Adobe said AI traffic to U.S. retail sites on Cyber Monday increased by 670%. It has been noted that during the holiday shopping season so far (November 1 to December 1), AI traffic has increased by 760%.