Our 5th edition of the Amazon Shopper Report offers an insider look into how shoppers feel about alternative marketplaces, changes in spending habits, and the prominent use of AI tools on and off Amazon.
Since 2022, we release a yearly global report looking at how consumers in the EU and US shop online, their habits, preferences, and opinions on different tools and ad formats.
We surveyed 6,000 shoppers from the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and the US alongside market research institute Appinio to put together this in-depth report. Here are our main findings.
A main finding on this topic is the substantial increase of shopping frequency: 84% of consumers purchase online at least once a month. This represents a 5-point increase in comparison to 2025 (79%). A significant 29% do it on a weekly basis, a 9-point increase from last year (20%), which is more prominent in the U.K. and U.S.
While Amazon remains the main online shopping destinations for most consumers, the survey reinforced a trend we had identified in previous editions: alternative marketplaces, namely Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop, are gaining traction, fast. Most shoppers have made at least one purchase from Temu (59%) and Shein (55%), while 31% have bought at least once from TikTok Shop, up from only 12% lin 2025.
One thing became evidently clear in this year's responses: AI tools are a must in the online shopping experience. 63% of respondents use them (outside of Amazon) when buying online, and of these, 43% employ them to research and compare products. A further 20% use AI tool find direct links to products and buy them.
Consumers purchase from Amazon regularly, with over 75% buying at least once a month. This marks a 5% increase from last year, which is more pronounced when looking at weekly purchases: from 13% in 2025 to 19% in 2026. Most shoppers buy on Amazon multiple times a month (32%), and others buy only once a month (24%).
In contrast to 2025, shoppers seem to be migrating to higher spending brackets: while 34% of consumers were in the €0-50 segment last year, this number has now decreased to 28%. The €100-200 bracket has increased by 3 points from last year (now 22%), while the €200+ stands now at 13%. Most shoppers are in the €50-100 area (35%). The US leads with the largest monthly spend, followed by Germany.
Price remains the main driver for visiting Amazon, with 52% using it for price comparisons. Shoppers also turn to the platform for product research (43%) and reviews (43%), while discovery plays a smaller role, with only 26% seeking new brand releases. 38% of shoppers also claim using Amazon to compare product features.
buy from Amazon at least once a month
Biggest spending bracket
Use Amazon for price comparisons
The categories most frequently purchased on Amazon reflect a mix of practicality and entertainment. Electronics (41%) lead the ranking globally, showing Amazon’s strength in tech and devices, followed by Books & Toys (32%), which remain a core part of the platform’s identity. Household Goods (29%) and Clothing & Accessories (28%) highlight Amazon’s role in everyday needs.
When searching for products, generic search remains the key discovery gateway on Amazon (meaning, search terms like "lip balm", rather than a specific brand). Branded searches and navigating through categories are rising in popularity.
When it comes to deal events like Prime Days or Black Friday, spontaneous browsing dominates the board, with 39% of shoppers saying they browse deals for unplanned purchases, compared to 22% who save specifically for planned purchases.
Following the trend from previous years, most shoppers still believe that the top results for their search are Amazon’s best recommendations, instead of paid placements. A quarter say top results are the products that best match their search, with bestsellers coming in as the second most popular answer. Only 23% answered the question about top search results correctly: they are paid product placements.
41% of shoppers describe sponsored products as "helpful". Negative associations remain low and stable: only 14% find them "distracting" and 15% "annoying", while 24% simply do not care about them. This shows sponsored integrate seamlessly into the SERP and are barely distinguishable from organic product placements.
| Country | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 82% | 18% |
| Italy | 79% | 21% |
| US | 79% | 21% |
| Germany | 71% | 29% |
| UK | 66% | 34% |
| France | 64% | 36% |
| Total | 74% | 26% |
In 2025, we asked shoppers if they had ever heard of Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus. Only 28% said yes. This year, 47%,of survey respondents knew Rufus, demonstrating an exponential growth in awareness of the tool during the past 12 months.
Occasional use is the most common usage pattern for Rufus, at 34%, followed by rarely (23%) and never (19%). Regular and constant use remain limited, at 18% and 6% respectively, suggesting that while awareness of Rufus is growing, habitual reliance on it is still an early-stage behavior.
Rufus usage is shifting toward the consideration and decision stages of the purchase journey: 51% now use it to compare products (+5% YoY) and 31% for final confirmation (+5% YoY), while usage to start a search has declined 5 points to 35%. This suggests Rufus is becoming less of a discovery tool and more of a mid-to-late funnel decision aid.
If Rufus is now a comparison engine, your content needs to win comparisons – not just be found. Prioritize content that answers "why this over that" (use case specifics, quantified differentiators, comparison tables) over generic brand storytelling.
•Lara Wenskus,
Content Director
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