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A PYMNTS Intelligence report says Amazon accounted for 59% of consumers’ most recent AI-assisted purchases, even as shoppers increasingly use AI tools to research products. The figures suggest AI is changing where consumers discover products faster than where they complete transactions, though the report’s research and purchase measures are separate distributions, not a tracked funnel.
Amazon accounted for 59% of consumers’ most recent AI-assisted purchases, according to a PYMNTS Intelligence report published October 30, 2026, suggesting that AI tools are influencing product discovery without yet displacing established retail checkout. The report also says Amazon represented 29% of online retail research starts and 49% of main purchase completions, although those figures come from separate distributions rather than a single shopper-tracking funnel.
The report, Will the 2026 Shopping Season Go Agentic?, describes a growing gap between where people research purchases and where they buy. PYMNTS Intelligence estimates that 58.4 million U.S. adults now begin online retail research with an AI tool. It says about 132 million U.S. adults have bought something with AI assistance, while 57.5 million AI-assisted shoppers report researching with AI products they previously searched for on Amazon.
That shift in research has not removed Amazon from the transaction. The report says 54.5 million shoppers still buy on Amazon even when an AI tool found the product. It attributes Amazon’s continued appeal at purchase time to existing features such as saved payment details, familiar delivery expectations, loyalty benefits, and returns processes. Those explanations are the report’s interpretation of the findings, not proof that any one feature caused consumers to choose Amazon.
Consumers’ willingness to delegate also varies by task. PYMNTS Intelligence reports that 62.9 million people would allow an agent to shop and buy for them, while 36.8 million would let an AI application hold their card. In a separate measure, the share willing to let an agent both shop and buy declined from 32% in September 2025 to 24% in August 2026. The report characterizes this as a graduated willingness to delegate, rather than a simple choice between accepting or rejecting AI shopping.
Why Checkout Still Favors Amazon
The findings point to a competitive distinction between AI-led product discovery and retailers’ ability to complete a sale. An AI assistant can help a shopper compare options or locate a product, but the merchant still needs a way to confirm identity, authorize payment, arrange delivery, and handle a return. Amazon already operates many of those parts of the transaction for its customers.
That matters to retailers, AI providers, and payment companies seeking a role in agentic commerce. If shoppers routinely use AI to decide what to buy but return to familiar merchant accounts to pay, control over the recommendation may not translate directly into control over the transaction. The report’s numbers do not establish which company or platform will win that competition, but they show why checkout access and purchasing authority are central issues alongside the quality of AI recommendations.
There is also a consumer-trust question. PYMNTS Intelligence says only 24% of consumers surveyed in August 2026 were willing to let an agent both shop and buy, down from 32% in September 2025. The figures suggest that permission to research or recommend may be easier to grant than permission to spend. For services that handle purchases, clear limits and a request for approval when a transaction exceeds those limits could matter as much as convenience.
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AI Research, Existing Retail Checkout
The report places its findings within the expansion of AI-assisted shopping, where consumers use generative AI to search for products, compare choices, or narrow a list. PYMNTS Intelligence estimates that tens of millions of U.S. adults now start retail research with AI. That activity gives AI services a growing role earlier in a shopping decision, but it does not necessarily move payment or order fulfillment away from a retailer.
The distinction is important when reading the headline figures. Amazon’s 29% share of research starts, 49% share of main purchase completions, and 59% share of recent AI-assisted purchases are reported as separate distributions. They are not successive stages measured for the same group of consumers, so they cannot establish that a particular share of shoppers moved from an AI search to an Amazon order. The report presents them as evidence of a broader difference between discovery and transaction capture.
Merchants surveyed by PYMNTS Intelligence also reported preparation efforts and gaps. 87% said they see agentic commerce as an opportunity, and 90% had begun work on products and catalogs. Businesses reported spending an average of 2% of annual revenue preparing for agentic commerce, while only 23% said they were very or fully prepared to integrate with AI platforms or agent networks. These are survey findings, not independently verified measures of industry-wide readiness.
“The report describes consumer willingness to delegate shopping as a “ladder” rather than a switch.”
— PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Will the 2026 Shopping Season Go Agentic?”
Limits of the Purchase Data
The reported shares do not show a shopper-by-shopper path from AI research to a completed purchase. PYMNTS Intelligence explicitly treats the research-start, main-completion, and AI-assisted-purchase figures as separate distributions. The source material does not provide enough detail to determine how the figures were collected, the full survey methodology, or whether the results represent all U.S. consumers.
It is also unclear from the report how much of Amazon’s purchase share reflects saved payment credentials, delivery familiarity, returns, or other factors. The report offers these as possible advantages, but it does not establish causation. Nor does the material specify which AI services, retailers, or payment systems will gain or lose share as shopping agents become more capable. The change in willingness to delegate—from 32% to 24%—is reported for September 2025 and August 2026, but the supplied material does not explain what drove the decline.
Merchant Readiness and Agent Permissions
The next developments to watch are whether merchants make product catalogs and purchasing systems easier for AI agents to use, and how platforms handle identity, payment authorization, spending limits, and consumer approval. The PYMNTS survey findings suggest that many businesses have begun catalog and product work, while relatively few describe themselves as fully prepared to integrate with agent networks.
The report does not identify a specific upcoming launch, policy decision, or deadline. Further data on completed transactions, consumer permissions, and the performance of integrations would help establish whether AI-driven discovery leads to lasting changes in where shoppers pay. For now, the figures describe a market in which AI is gaining a research role while Amazon remains a major destination for purchases.
Key Questions
What does the 59% figure measure?
According to PYMNTS Intelligence, 59% is Amazon’s share of consumers’ most recent AI-assisted purchases. It is not a measure of all online purchases or of every purchase influenced by AI.
Does the report show that AI shoppers move from research to Amazon checkout?
No. The report says its figures for research starts, main purchase completions, and AI-assisted purchases come from separate distributions, not a tracked funnel following the same consumers through each step.
How many people use AI for shopping, according to the report?
PYMNTS Intelligence estimates that about 132 million U.S. adults have bought something with AI assistance, and 58.4 million now begin online retail research using an AI tool.
Are consumers willing to let AI agents make purchases?
Willingness differs by task. The report says 62.9 million people would allow an agent to shop and buy for them, while 36.8 million would allow an AI application to hold their card. It also reports that the share willing to let an agent both shop and buy was 24% in August 2026, compared with 32% in September 2025.
Source: pymnts.com
