Agentic search now opens the purchase journey 200% more often than it did a year ago, according to Salesforce's fourth State of Commerce report. Traffic reaching commerce sites from AI chats climbed 150% to 428% in every quarter Salesforce measured, against low single- and double-digit growth overall. Consumers surveyed between August 2025 and May 2026 said they found fewer products on brands' own sites, down 7%, and through traditional search, down 15%, while AI assistants, social AI, and delivery apps rose 38%. Merchants haven't kept up, with 28% of commerce organizations running agentic AI now, another 44% expecting to inside six months, and only 32% having defined what success looks like. Salesforce sells agentic commerce software, and the findings draw on 3,450 commerce professionals, 4,689 consumers, and data on 1.5B shoppers.
