Ecommerce SEO Statistics UK 2026

Statistics 21–30 — Product Search, Google & Ecommerce Discovery

Online shopping does not begin only on retailer websites or marketplaces.

Consumers frequently move between search engines, smartphones, retail platforms and websites while researching products, comparing alternatives and deciding where to buy.

The latest UK evidence shows that both search-engine use and online purchasing are already mainstream digital behaviours.

21. 97% of UK internet users recently used a search engine

Search was the most commonly reported digital task in the DSIT survey.

Its reach exceeded activities including online banking, social media and purchasing products or services online.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Search remains one of the most widely used digital behaviours through which consumers can begin product research.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

22. 92% of UK internet users bought products or services online

Examples in the survey included groceries, clothing, event tickets, insurance and subscriptions.

This demonstrates that ecommerce participation is not restricted to occasional specialist users.

Ecommerce implication: Online purchasing is already mainstream among the connected UK population, increasing the commercial importance of digital product visibility.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

23. 96% of UK online adults used search engines during the previous year

This is consistent with the DSIT evidence showing that search is one of the UK’s most widespread digital activities.

The different percentages reflect different survey populations, wording and measurement periods rather than conflicting evidence.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Search engines continue to provide access to almost the entire online adult market.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

24. Google Search reaches 82% of UK online adults

It remains by far the most widely used search service in the UK.

For ecommerce retailers, Google can expose category pages, product pages, shopping results, informational content and brand searches at multiple stages of the buying journey.

Ecommerce implication: Google remains a major product-discovery environment even though marketplaces also command enormous audiences.

Source: Ofcom, From Apps to AI Search: How the UK Goes Online in 2025.

25. Around 3 billion Google searches take place in the UK each month

Not all of these searches have commercial intent.

However, the scale demonstrates the volume of opportunities through which products, brands, categories, reviews and retailer information can be discovered.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Organic search remains relevant because even a small share of total search activity represents substantial potential product-discovery demand.

Source: Ofcom, From Apps to AI Search: How the UK Goes Online in 2025.

26. UK adults generated nearly 9 billion Google Search page views in October 2025

Page views are not equivalent to individual search queries, so the figure should not be compared directly with Ofcom’s monthly-search estimate.

It does, however, reinforce the extraordinary scale of interaction with Google Search.

Ecommerce implication: Retailers continue to compete within a search interface receiving billions of monthly user interactions.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026, citing Ipsos iris.

27. 95% of UK adults recently used the internet

Internet usage remained very high across most age groups, although adoption was lower among the oldest adults.

This provides the broad population context within which online shopping, search and marketplace usage operate.

Ecommerce implication: The potential digital retail audience encompasses almost the entire adult population.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

28. 93% of UK adults have access to a smartphone

Smartphones enable consumers to move between product search, marketplace apps, social content, retailer websites, reviews and checkout with minimal friction.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Product discovery and product-page performance should be designed around mobile behaviour rather than treating smartphones as a secondary browsing environment.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

29. 59% of UK internet users access the internet while on the move

Consumers can therefore research or purchase products while travelling, shopping physically, comparing prices in-store or responding to an immediate need.

Ecommerce implication: Search and retail discovery increasingly take place in real-world contexts rather than only during dedicated desktop shopping sessions.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

30. One in five UK online adults relies solely on a smartphone for internet access

For these users, every stage of ecommerce discovery and conversion must function on a small screen.

That includes:

• Search results.
• Category navigation.
• Product images.
• Reviews.
• Filters.
• Basket functionality.
• Checkout.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Mobile usability is not only a UX concern. For a significant minority of online adults, the mobile version is effectively the entire ecommerce experience.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

Statistics 31–40 — Reviews, Trust, Advertising & Ecommerce Purchase Decisions

Visibility does not automatically produce an ecommerce sale.

Consumers also have to decide whether a result, retailer, product, review or recommendation is trustworthy enough to act upon.

The latest UK evidence shows that online reviews influence a very large share of consumers, while many users still struggle to distinguish advertising from organic search prominence.

31. 89% of consumers use online reviews when researching products or services

The Competition and Markets Authority continues to cite this figure in its current enforcement work on fake and misleading reviews.

For ecommerce retailers, reviews can influence product selection before a customer reaches checkout.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Product visibility and product reputation increasingly operate together. A highly visible product with weak or untrusted reviews can still lose the sale.

Source: Competition and Markets Authority, citing consumer research from Which?.

32. Up to £23 billion of UK consumer spending may be influenced by online reviews each year

This is not a new 2026 measurement; it is an older CMA estimate that continues to be cited in current enforcement activity.

The scale nevertheless demonstrates why review quality and authenticity remain commercially important.

Ecommerce implication: Reviews are not simply a reputation-management feature. They can form part of the commercial decision architecture around products and retailers.

Source: Competition and Markets Authority.

33. Only 52% of search users correctly identified sponsored Google results

Ofcom tested users with a Google search for walking boots in which the top links were labelled as sponsored.

Only slightly more than half correctly identified why those results appeared first.

Ecommerce implication: Position within a search interface can influence perceptions even where prominence is purchased rather than earned organically.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

34. 25% associated sponsored prominence with being the “best” or most relevant

This illustrates how placement can be interpreted as a quality or relevance signal even when the placement itself is advertising.

Ecommerce implication: Product discovery is partly shaped by interface position and user interpretation, not simply by an objective comparison of retailers or products.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

35. 24% associated sponsored search prominence with popularity

This again demonstrates the potential for users to infer authority or demand from search-result positioning.

Ecommerce implication: Search prominence can influence perceived product or retailer credibility independently of whether the result is organic or paid.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

36. 81% of adults feel confident recognising online advertising

However, confidence was much higher than demonstrated ability in the practical search test.

Only 30% described themselves as very confident, while 51% were fairly confident.

Ecommerce implication: Retailers should not assume consumers consistently distinguish paid placements, organic results and other forms of recommendation as clearly as industry professionals do.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

37. Only 45% were both confident and correct when identifying paid search results

A further 37% were confident but failed the practical identification test.

Ecommerce implication: The apparent distinction between advertising and organic discovery may be less obvious to consumers than marketers assume.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

38. Only 17% assume a search result is accurate and unbiased simply because it appears in search

That proportion had fallen from 27% in the previous year.

Users therefore appear increasingly cautious about assuming that search visibility alone establishes credibility.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Ranking can earn attention, but product claims, reviews, pricing, retailer reputation and evidence still need to establish trust after discovery.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

39. 63% believe some search results are accurate while others are not

This was the majority position in Ofcom’s research.

It suggests that consumers increasingly approach search results as candidates for evaluation rather than automatically trusted answers.

Ecommerce implication: Product pages need to survive a second stage of evaluation after the click, including comparison of specifications, price, reviews, delivery terms and retailer credibility.

Source: Ofcom, Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026.

40. The CMA identified 54 businesses that could be failing its fake-review guidance

The review examined whether businesses published clear policies prohibiting fake reviews and explained their approach to incentivised reviews.

The CMA subsequently contacted the businesses concerned and requested information about steps being taken to comply.

Ecommerce implication: Review governance is now not only a reputation issue but also an increasingly visible consumer-law compliance issue.

Source: Competition and Markets Authority, Online Consumer Reviews, updated March 2026.

Statistics 41–50 — AI Search, ChatGPT & the Future of Ecommerce Product Discovery

The final ten statistics examine the fastest-moving part of ecommerce discovery: generative AI, AI-enhanced search and conversational product research.

Consumers can increasingly ask search engines and AI assistants detailed questions about what to buy, compare products against specific requirements and receive generated recommendations before visiting a retailer.

This does not mean conventional ecommerce SEO is disappearing.

Instead, another discovery layer is being added between the customer’s need and the eventual product page, marketplace listing or checkout.

41. Around 30% of Google searches now display an AI Overview

AI-generated summaries are therefore no longer a marginal search feature.

They increasingly appear within the standard Google experience that consumers already use for product research, comparisons and commercial questions.

Ecommerce SEO implication: Retailers increasingly compete not only for traditional organic positions but also for visibility within search environments where AI-generated answers can appear before or alongside conventional results.

Source: Ofcom, From Apps to AI Search: How the UK Goes Online in 2025.

42. 53% of UK adults say they often see AI-generated search summaries

In many cases, users are not actively choosing an AI search product; AI-generated information is increasingly being inserted into the search interfaces they already use.

Ecommerce implication: AI-assisted product discovery can reach shoppers even if they never deliberately open a standalone AI assistant.

Source: Ofcom, From Apps to AI Search: How the UK Goes Online in 2025.

43. ChatGPT received 1.8 billion UK visits in the first eight months of 2025

Not every ChatGPT visit involves product discovery or search.

The scale nevertheless demonstrates that conversational AI has developed into a mainstream digital environment capable of influencing how consumers research products and brands.

Ecommerce implication: Retailers should increasingly consider whether AI systems can understand their products, categories, specifications, brand and supporting evidence.

Source: Ofcom, Online Nation 2025.

44. ChatGPT’s measured UK traffic grew almost fivefold in one year

That represents approximately 4.9 times as many measured visits.

CGO Media calculation: 1.8 billion divided by 368 million equals approximately 4.9.

Ecommerce implication: Conversational discovery environments can scale much faster than traditional changes in search behaviour, making them increasingly relevant to forward-looking ecommerce visibility strategies.

Source: Ofcom, Online Nation 2025.

45. 59% of UK adults recently used generative AI

Usage was particularly high among younger adults, reaching at least 75% among people below the age of 45.

This statistic covers generative AI broadly rather than shopping specifically.

Ecommerce implication: A majority of UK adults now have recent experience with generative-AI interfaces, increasing the potential audience for AI-assisted product research.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

46. 83% of generative-AI users used it for personal purposes

By comparison, 54% had used generative AI for work purposes.

Personal use can include many activities and should not be interpreted as a direct measure of shopping behaviour.

Ecommerce implication: Generative AI is already established outside purely workplace use, creating the conditions for consumer activities such as research, comparison, planning and product discovery to move into conversational interfaces.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

47. 47% see easier access to information or advice as a benefit of AI

This was the most commonly reported perceived benefit in the DSIT survey.

That behaviour is directly relevant to product research because many purchase journeys begin with a request for information, advice or comparison rather than a specific product name.

Ecommerce implication: Retailers increasingly need product information that can support detailed questions about suitability, specifications, use cases and alternatives.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

48. 74% are concerned that AI-generated information may be inaccurate

This was the most commonly reported AI-related risk in the DSIT research.

Ecommerce implication: AI product discovery does not remove the need for verification. Shoppers may still check retailer websites, reviews, specifications, availability and prices before purchasing.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026.

49. AI Mode queries can be two to three times longer than traditional searches

Google specifically identifies product comparison as one of the tasks suited to AI Mode.

A traditional ecommerce search might be:

“Best travel backpack”

A conversational product request might instead ask:

“Best lightweight carry-on backpack for a five-day city trip, under £120, with a laptop compartment and suitable for budget-airline cabin limits”

Ecommerce implication: Longer queries increase the importance of detailed attributes, specifications, use cases and structured product information.

Source: Google UK, Introducing AI Mode in the UK.

50. Google’s Shopping Graph now contains more than 60 billion product listings

Google also states that people shop across its services more than one billion times per day.

The Shopping Graph supplies product information to Google’s AI-enhanced shopping experiences and includes data such as products, retailers, pricing and availability.

Important scope note: These are global Google platform figures rather than UK-specific statistics.

Ecommerce SEO implication: AI-assisted shopping operates against extremely large, continuously changing product datasets. Accurate product feeds, structured information, availability and price data are therefore becoming increasingly important components of digital product visibility.

Source: Google, Introducing the Universal Cart and more ways to help you shop, May 2026.

CGO Media Analysis — What the 50 Ecommerce SEO Statistics Tell Us

Taken together, the 50 statistics show that ecommerce SEO is becoming broader than conventional organic ranking.

Online retail already represents a substantial share of retail spending, almost every UK online adult uses retail services, Google Search remains deeply embedded in discovery behaviour, major marketplaces command enormous audiences, mobile access is near-universal, reviews influence purchase decisions and AI-assisted product discovery is expanding rapidly.

The result is an ecommerce environment in which visibility can be won or lost across multiple platforms before the customer ever reaches a product page.

1. Ecommerce Is Now a Structural Part of UK Retail

Online retail is no longer an emerging channel.

More than a quarter of measured retail spending now takes place online, and the latest ONS data continues to show year-on-year growth.

This matters because ecommerce SEO is not competing for marginal digital demand.

It is competing within a mature retail environment where online purchasing has become normal consumer behaviour.

2. Product Discovery No Longer Belongs to One Platform

Amazon, eBay, Temu, Vinted and Shein all command significant UK audiences.

Consumers can begin a shopping journey inside a marketplace without using Google at all.

Others may begin in Google and finish inside a marketplace, while some start with a retailer’s app or an AI assistant.

This means ecommerce visibility can no longer be understood purely as a Google ranking problem.

3. Google Search Remains Fundamental

The growth of marketplaces and AI search does not make traditional search irrelevant.

Google still reaches most UK online adults and handles billions of monthly search interactions.

Retailers therefore continue to benefit from strong category architecture, product pages, informational content, technical SEO and organic brand visibility.

The difference is that Google now forms one part of a wider discovery ecosystem.

4. Mobile Is the Default Ecommerce Environment

With smartphone access above 90% and one in five online adults relying entirely on mobile internet access, ecommerce experiences increasingly need to work from the smallest screen outward.

This affects:

• Search-result presentation.
• Category navigation.
• Product-page speed.
• Image loading.
• Filtering.
• Reviews.
• Basket functionality.
• Checkout.

Poor mobile execution can therefore undermine both discovery and conversion.

5. Visibility and Trust Are Separate Stages

The search-literacy evidence is important because ranking first does not mean customers automatically believe what they see.

Users increasingly recognise that search results vary in quality and that prominence may reflect advertising rather than authority.

For ecommerce businesses, visibility therefore has to be followed by credibility.

That credibility may come from:

• Reviews.
• Brand recognition.
• Clear specifications.
• Transparent prices.
• Delivery information.
• Returns policies.
• Independent evidence.

6. Reviews Sit Between Product Discovery and Purchase

With 89% of consumers using reviews during product or service research, review visibility should be treated as part of the ecommerce discovery journey.

Consumers may see ratings in Google, marketplaces, product pages or independent review platforms before deciding whether to buy.

Review quality, authenticity and coverage can therefore influence which product wins after initial discovery.

7. Product Data Is Becoming More Important

The growth of AI-assisted shopping increases the importance of structured and accurate product information.

Search and recommendation systems increasingly need to understand:

• Price.
• Availability.
• Brand.
• Colour.
• Size.
• Material.
• Compatibility.
• Use case.
• Delivery options.

These attributes become especially important when users ask highly specific questions.

8. AI Search Makes Product Intent More Specific

Google reports that AI Mode queries can be two to three times longer than conventional searches.

Longer requests allow customers to express detailed requirements rather than relying on broad keywords.

This can create new visibility opportunities for products that match highly specific combinations of attributes.

For example, the competitive question may shift from:

“Best office chair”

to:

“Best ergonomic office chair under £300 for a tall person working from home eight hours a day”

9. AI Product Discovery Still Depends on Trust and Verification

Generative AI adoption is rising quickly, but the same research shows that users remain concerned about inaccurate information.

This suggests AI recommendations may often act as an earlier discovery or comparison layer rather than the final point of purchase.

Shoppers can still verify:

• Price.
• Availability.
• Reviews.
• Specifications.
• Retailer reputation.

before completing the purchase.

10. Ecommerce SEO Is Becoming an Integrated Product-Discovery Discipline

The strongest conclusion from the 50 statistics is that ecommerce SEO can no longer be reduced to ranking category and product pages.

Modern ecommerce visibility increasingly combines:

• Technical SEO.
• Category architecture.
• Product-page optimisation.
• Marketplace visibility.
• Mobile experience.
• Reviews and reputation.
• Product feeds.
• Structured product data.
• AI-search readiness.
• Commercial measurement.

What UK Ecommerce Businesses Should Do in 2026

The 50 statistics show that ecommerce SEO now extends well beyond ranking individual product pages.

UK retailers are competing across Google Search, marketplaces, mobile interfaces, reviews, product feeds and increasingly AI-assisted shopping environments.

The strongest strategy is therefore to improve the entire product-discovery system rather than treat SEO as an isolated traffic channel.

1. Protect the Technical SEO Foundation

Ecommerce sites can contain thousands or millions of URLs, making technical SEO particularly important.

Retailers should prioritise:

• Crawlability.
• Indexation.
• Canonicalisation.
• Faceted-navigation control.
• Duplicate-content management.
• Pagination.
• XML sitemaps.
• Internal linking.
• Site speed.
• Mobile performance.

A product cannot generate organic visibility if search engines cannot reliably find, understand or index it.

2. Strengthen Category Architecture

Category pages remain important because they organise product ranges around meaningful customer intent.

Strong architecture should reflect:

• Product type.
• Use case.
• Audience.
• Brand.
• Material.
• Feature.
• Price range.
• Problem solved.

The objective is to create a structure that is useful both to users and search systems.

Avoid generating thousands of low-value filter combinations simply because the ecommerce platform allows them.

3. Improve Product-Page Completeness

As search becomes more conversational, thin product descriptions become a greater limitation.

Important product pages should clearly state:

• What the product is.
• Who it is for.
• Key specifications.
• Dimensions.
• Materials.
• Compatibility.
• Available sizes or colours.
• Important use cases.
• Delivery information.
• Returns information.

Detailed information helps consumers make decisions and gives search and AI systems more precise data with which to understand product relevance.

4. Treat Product Data as Search Infrastructure

Accurate product feeds and structured product information are becoming increasingly important across Google Shopping and AI-assisted discovery.

Retailers should maintain accurate:

• Product names.
• Brand information.
• GTINs and identifiers where relevant.
• Prices.
• Availability.
• Variants.
• Images.
• Shipping information.
• Condition.

Product information should remain consistent between the website, Merchant Center feeds and other distribution channels.

5. Optimise for Detailed Product Intent

Longer conversational queries make detailed product relevance more important.

Retailers should build content around questions such as:

• Which product is best for a particular use case?
• Which version suits a specific customer type?
• What are the important differences between two models?
• Is the product compatible with another device or system?
• Which option works within a particular budget?

This can be supported through product copy, category content, comparison pages, buying guides and FAQs.

6. Build Comparison Content That Helps Customers Decide

Consumers increasingly search for assistance rather than simply a product name.

Useful comparison content can include:

• Product A vs Product B.
• Best products for a specific use case.
• Entry-level vs premium options.
• Model differences.
• Size or specification comparisons.
• Alternative products.

Comparison content should genuinely help the user rather than exist solely to target additional keywords.

7. Strengthen Reviews and Product Reputation

With 89% of consumers using reviews during research, reputation belongs within the ecommerce SEO strategy.

Retailers should:

• Encourage genuine customer reviews.
• Avoid manipulative or fabricated review practices.
• Respond appropriately to legitimate complaints.
• Make product ratings easy to understand.
• Ensure review processes comply with UK consumer law.

Review quantity alone is not enough. Authenticity and credibility matter.

8. Improve Mobile Product Discovery

Mobile shoppers need to be able to understand and buy a product without fighting the interface.

Retailers should examine:

• Page speed.
• Image performance.
• Filter usability.
• Sticky purchase controls.
• Variant selection.
• Review accessibility.
• Checkout friction.
• Payment options.

For smartphone-only consumers, poor mobile execution effectively removes the retailer from consideration.

9. Optimise Beyond Google

Amazon, eBay, Temu, Vinted, Shein and specialist marketplaces demonstrate how fragmented product discovery has become.

The appropriate platform mix depends on the retailer and product category, but businesses should understand where their customers actually browse.

That can require optimisation of:

• Marketplace titles.
• Product attributes.
• Categories.
• Images.
• Reviews.
• Pricing.
• Availability.

A retailer does not need to participate in every marketplace, but it should understand the marketplaces influencing its sector.

10. Build Information Worth Referencing

Retailers should create resources that are more useful than generic product copy.

Examples include:

• Original product testing.
• Buying guides.
• Technical specifications.
• Size guides.
• Comparison tables.
• Usage data.
• Industry research.
• Expert advice.

These assets can support organic rankings while also improving the likelihood that the retailer becomes a useful source for comparison and answer systems.

11. Prepare for AI Shopping Without Abandoning SEO

Retailers do not need to replace conventional SEO with a separate AI-only programme.

They should strengthen the underlying information AI systems need to understand products:

• Clear product entities.
• Accurate attributes.
• Structured data.
• Consistent feeds.
• Authoritative buying content.
• Reliable pricing.
• Availability.
• Reputation evidence.

Many of these improvements also strengthen traditional SEO and conversion performance.

12. Measure Commercial Outcomes, Not Rankings Alone

Rankings remain useful diagnostic indicators, but ecommerce performance should ultimately be measured commercially.

Important metrics include:

• Organic revenue.
• Transactions.
• Conversion rate.
• Revenue per landing page.
• Product discovery traffic.
• Category performance.
• Average order value.
• New-customer acquisition.
• Marketplace sales where relevant.
• AI and referral traffic where measurable.

Retailers should also distinguish between informational traffic and commercially valuable product-discovery traffic.

Ecommerce SEO Trends UK 2026–2027

The 50 statistics in this report provide a strong evidence base for identifying several likely directions in UK ecommerce SEO over the next 12 to 24 months.

These are not predictions of guaranteed outcomes.

They are evidence-led trends based on current retail behaviour, search usage, marketplace growth, mobile adoption, review behaviour and the expansion of AI-assisted search.

1. Ecommerce SEO Will Become More Multi-Platform

Google will remain important, but retailers will increasingly need to understand how customers discover products across multiple environments.

That includes:

• Google Search.
• Google Shopping.
• Amazon.
• eBay.
• Specialist marketplaces.
• Retail apps.
• AI assistants.

The practical consequence is that product visibility will become harder to measure through rankings alone.

2. Product Data Will Become a Competitive Search Asset

Accurate product information is likely to become increasingly important as search and shopping systems rely more heavily on feeds, structured attributes and machine-readable data.

Retailers with incomplete or inconsistent product information may find it harder to compete in environments that need to compare thousands of products automatically.

3. Category Pages Will Need Stronger Intent Alignment

Broad category pages will continue to matter, but increasingly specific customer requirements will create demand for more useful subcategories and buying pathways.

Retailers should expect greater value from category structures built around:

• Use case.
• Audience.
• Feature.
• Compatibility.
• Budget.
• Material.

The objective should not be to create unlimited indexable filters, but to build meaningful landing pages where genuine search and customer demand exists.

4. Product Pages Will Become More Informational

Thin descriptions are likely to become less competitive as users ask more detailed questions.

Product pages will increasingly need to explain not only what the item is, but:

• Who it is suitable for.
• Who it may not suit.
• What it is compatible with.
• How it differs from alternatives.
• What problem it solves.
• What evidence supports the claims.

This makes product-page content more closely resemble decision-support content.

5. Product Comparison Content Will Grow in Importance

AI-assisted search encourages users to express detailed comparison needs.

That creates opportunities for retailers to publish useful comparison content before an AI system or marketplace performs the comparison on their behalf.

Retailers with strong product-comparison resources may be better positioned to capture:

• “Best for” searches.
• Product-vs-product queries.
• Alternative searches.
• Use-case comparisons.

6. Reviews Will Become More Closely Connected to Search Visibility

Reviews already influence a large proportion of consumer research.

As product discovery spreads across more recommendation-led interfaces, reputation signals are likely to become even more important to the customer journey.

Retailers will need to focus on:

• Authentic reviews.
• Product-level ratings.
• Review freshness.
• Response quality.
• Regulatory compliance.

Manipulative review practices are likely to become increasingly risky as enforcement grows.

7. Mobile Conversion Will Become Even More Important

Mobile already dominates much of the connected consumer experience.

That means ecommerce SEO performance will increasingly depend on what happens after the user lands on a mobile page.

Retailers should expect greater commercial importance from:

• Fast page loads.
• Simplified filters.
• Clear variant selection.
• Easy payment.
• Persistent basket functionality.
• Reduced checkout friction.

SEO traffic that cannot convert effectively on mobile will become progressively less valuable.

8. Marketplace SEO Will Become More Professionalised

The scale of Amazon, eBay, Temu and other platforms means that marketplace optimisation is likely to become a more formal part of ecommerce strategy.

That can involve:

• Listing titles.
• Categories.
• Attributes.
• Product imagery.
• Reviews.
• Pricing.
• Stock availability.

The principles are similar to conventional SEO: relevance, completeness, trust and user satisfaction.

9. AI Search Will Expand the Long Tail of Product Intent

Longer conversational queries allow consumers to describe highly specific requirements.

This may increase the commercial value of detailed product attributes that were previously treated as secondary information.

Retailers that expose these attributes clearly may be easier to match with complex product needs.

10. AI Recommendations Will Increase the Importance of Source Quality

As consumers ask AI systems for product advice, retailers may benefit from becoming strong sources rather than simply strong destinations.

Useful source assets can include:

• Original product testing.
• Expert buying guides.
• Technical information.
• Comparison data.
• Research.
• Detailed FAQs.

The objective is to publish information that is useful enough to support product selection, regardless of whether the consumer begins on the retailer’s own website.

11. Search Measurement Will Move Beyond Rankings

Rankings alone will become an increasingly incomplete measure of ecommerce visibility.

Retailers will need to monitor a broader range of outcomes, including:

• Organic product revenue.
• Category revenue.
• Google Merchant visibility.
• Marketplace performance.
• Referral traffic.
• AI referrals where identifiable.
• Brand search growth.
• New-customer acquisition.

This shift will make ecommerce SEO measurement more commercially aligned.

12. Ecommerce SEO and Conversion Optimisation Will Converge

The boundary between SEO and conversion optimisation is likely to become less useful.

Search engines, marketplaces and AI systems can bring the customer to the product, but the retailer still needs to convert the opportunity.

That means technical search performance, product information, reviews, UX, stock, price and checkout increasingly need to be considered together.

Research Methodology & Limitations

This report was prepared by the CGO Media Research Team to provide a source-based view of the environment in which UK ecommerce SEO operates in 2026.

The report combines official retail statistics, audience measurement, consumer-behaviour research, regulatory evidence and first-party platform data.

It does not claim that all 50 statistics directly measure ecommerce SEO performance.

Instead, the statistics describe the wider commercial and discovery environment in which ecommerce SEO operates, including online retail adoption, search behaviour, marketplace usage, mobile access, reviews, trust and AI-assisted product discovery.

Research Scope

The 50 statistics were organised into five principal evidence groups:

1. UK Ecommerce & Online Retail Market — online retail share, spending growth and long-term adoption.
2. Online Shopping Audiences & Marketplaces — audience reach and usage of major retail platforms.
3. Product Search & Ecommerce Discovery — search-engine use, Google reach, online purchasing and mobile access.
4. Reviews, Trust & Purchase Decisions — online reviews, advertising recognition and search-result trust.
5. AI Search & Product Discovery — AI Overviews, ChatGPT, generative-AI adoption, conversational search and AI shopping infrastructure.

Primary Source Standard

CGO Media prioritised original or first-party evidence wherever possible.

The main sources include:

• Office for National Statistics.
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
• Ofcom.
• Ipsos iris.
• Competition and Markets Authority.
• Google.

Generic SEO-statistics round-ups, unsourced marketing claims and statistics without an identifiable original dataset were not treated as primary evidence.

Great Britain vs United Kingdom

A key methodological distinction concerns the Office for National Statistics Retail Sales Index.

The ONS retail-sales series used in Statistics 1–10 covers Great Britain, rather than the whole United Kingdom.

For this reason, the report labels those figures explicitly as Great Britain retail statistics rather than presenting them as UK-wide measurements.

Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Retail Measures

Retail statistics are reported across different time periods.

These include:

• Monthly movement.
• Year-on-year monthly comparison.
• Three-month comparison.
• Annual online retail share.

These measures are not interchangeable.

Monthly growth can be volatile, while three-month or annual figures generally provide a more stable view of structural change.

Seasonally Adjusted Retail Data

Several ONS figures used in this report are seasonally adjusted.

Seasonal adjustment is designed to reduce predictable calendar-related effects, allowing stronger comparison between periods.

Where annual historical comparisons are made, the report uses the corresponding ONS series to preserve comparability.

Audience Reach Does Not Equal Purchasing Behaviour

Audience measurement from Ofcom and Ipsos iris shows how many people visited retail platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Temu, Vinted and Shein.

This does not mean every visitor:

• Searched for a product.
• Made a purchase.
• Arrived through SEO.
• Purchased from the measured platform.

Audience reach is therefore used as evidence of platform scale, not as a direct measure of sales performance.

Time Spent Does Not Equal Commercial Intent

Time spent with a retail service can indicate engagement, but it should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of purchase intent.

Longer usage can include:

• Browsing.
• Searching.
• Review reading.
• Price comparison.
• Account management.
• Buying or selling activity.

The report therefore treats time-spent data as engagement evidence rather than direct conversion evidence.

Search Usage vs Ecommerce Search

Statistics on Google and general search-engine use describe the wider search environment.

Not every Google query has commercial or ecommerce intent.

For example, the approximately three billion monthly Google searches cited by Ofcom include informational, navigational and other non-shopping searches.

These statistics are included because ecommerce product discovery takes place inside the same search ecosystem, not because every search represents a retail opportunity.

Searches, Page Views and Visits Are Different Measures

The report preserves an important distinction between:

• Search queries.
• Page views.
• Platform visits.
• Audience reach.
• Time spent.

These should not be combined or treated as equivalent measures.

For example, nearly nine billion Google Search page views should not be interpreted as nine billion individual searches.

Mobile Access vs Mobile Ecommerce

Smartphone statistics establish the scale of mobile internet access.

They do not prove that every smartphone user shops online or that every ecommerce session takes place on mobile.

The figures are included because mobile access creates the environment in which ecommerce search, comparison and purchasing increasingly occur.

Online Reviews and Consumer Influence

The report uses Competition and Markets Authority evidence to examine review behaviour.

Two distinctions are important:

• The 89% review-usage figure describes consumer research behaviour.
• The £23 billion spending figure is an older CMA estimate still cited in current regulatory work and should not be presented as a new 2026 measurement.

The report therefore preserves the context and age of the evidence rather than presenting it as newly measured data.

Search Literacy and Ecommerce

Ofcom’s research on sponsored-result recognition and search-result trust is not ecommerce-specific.

It is included because ecommerce product discovery frequently takes place within the same search interfaces.

The evidence helps explain how consumers may interpret prominence, relevance and trust when product-related results appear in search.

Generative AI Adoption vs AI Shopping

General generative-AI usage statistics should not be treated as direct evidence of AI shopping behaviour.

For example, the 59% generative-AI adoption figure measures broad AI usage across many activities.

It does not mean 59% of adults use AI to research or purchase products.

The statistic is used to establish the size of the population becoming familiar with conversational AI interfaces.

ChatGPT Visits Are Not Search Queries

ChatGPT traffic figures represent visits to the service.

They do not indicate:

• The number of individual prompts.
• The number of product searches.
• The number of recommendations.
• The number of purchases influenced.

ChatGPT traffic is therefore used as evidence of platform adoption rather than direct ecommerce conversion.

AI Overview Exposure

The prevalence of AI Overviews demonstrates that generated content has become part of mainstream search.

However, AI Overview exposure alone does not establish:

• Whether users clicked fewer organic results.
• Whether ecommerce conversion improved or declined.
• Which retailers were cited.
• Whether product sales were affected.

Those questions require separate evidence.

Google AI Mode Data

Google’s statement that AI Mode questions can be two to three times longer than traditional queries is a first-party platform observation.

It is useful for understanding how conversational behaviour may differ from conventional keyword search.

However, it should not automatically be generalised to:

• Every Google user.
• Every UK ecommerce search.
• Every AI platform.

Google Shopping Graph Data

Google’s figure of more than 60 billion product listings is a global platform statistic rather than a UK-specific measurement.

It is included because it illustrates the scale of the product-information infrastructure supporting AI-enhanced shopping experiences.

The report clearly labels this figure as global.

CGO Media Calculations

Where CGO Media performs a calculation using published data, the result is explicitly identified as a CGO Media calculation.

Examples include:

• Percentage-point changes in online retail share.
• Long-term growth multiples.
• ChatGPT traffic-growth multiples.

The underlying source values remain attributable to the original publisher.

Source Evidence vs CGO Media Interpretation

This report deliberately separates direct statistical evidence from interpretation.

Labels such as:

• Ecommerce SEO implication
• Product-discovery implication
• CGO Media interpretation
• 2026–2027 direction

represent CGO Media analysis rather than claims made by the underlying source organisation.

Correlation and Causation

The simultaneous growth of ecommerce, mobile access, marketplace usage and generative AI does not prove that one trend caused another.

Similarly, the presence of strong reviews does not by itself prove that reviews caused a particular ranking or sale.

Causal conclusions require evidence specifically designed to test causation.

Research Limitations

This report should be interpreted with the following limitations in mind:

• Some retail data covers Great Britain rather than the whole UK.
• Source periods differ between datasets.
• Some figures are survey-based while others use passive audience measurement.
• Audience reach does not equal purchase intent.
• Time spent does not equal transaction volume.
• Search usage does not equal ecommerce search usage.
• Page views do not equal individual searches.
• Smartphone access does not equal mobile purchasing.
• General generative-AI adoption does not equal AI-shopping adoption.
• ChatGPT visits do not equal product searches.
• AI Overview exposure does not establish click or sales impact.
• Marketplace behaviour varies substantially by product category.
• Retailer performance varies by price, brand, sector and business model.
• Google and AI shopping interfaces are changing rapidly.
• 2026–2027 trend sections represent evidence-led interpretation rather than guaranteed forecasts.

Frequently Asked Questions — Ecommerce SEO Statistics UK 2026

The questions below address the main issues raised by the 50 statistics, including UK online retail growth, Google Search, marketplaces, mobile shopping, reviews, AI search and the changing role of ecommerce SEO.

1. What percentage of retail sales are online in Great Britain?

Online sales accounted for 28.8% of seasonally adjusted retail spending in Great Britain in August 2026.

That was up from 28.4% in July 2026.

2. Is UK ecommerce still growing in 2026?

Yes.

ONS data showed online retail spending in August 2026 was 8.9% higher than in August 2025.

Over the three months to August 2026, online spending was 10.1% higher year on year.

3. How much has online retail grown since before the pandemic?

The seasonally adjusted annual online share of retail sales was 19.2% in 2019 and 27.5% in 2025.

That represents an increase of 8.3 percentage points.

The long-term shift is even larger when compared with 2008, when online sales represented only 4.9% of retail sales.

4. How many UK adults use online retail services?

Ofcom found that 98% of UK online adults visited an online retail service during May 2025.

Online retail therefore reaches almost the entire connected adult population.

5. Which ecommerce platform has the largest UK audience?

Amazon was the largest individual online retail service in Ofcom’s May 2025 measurement.

It reached 43.2 million UK online adults, equivalent to approximately 88% of the online adult population.

6. Is Google still important for ecommerce SEO?

Yes.

Google Search reaches more than four in five UK online adults and handles billions of monthly search interactions.

Retailers can appear through:

• Organic category pages.
• Product pages.
• Shopping results.
• Reviews.
• Brand searches.
• Informational buying content.

7. How many UK internet users buy online?

DSIT found that 92% of UK internet users had bought products or services online during the previous three months without assistance.

This included activities such as buying groceries, clothes, tickets, insurance and subscriptions.

8. How important is mobile for ecommerce?

93% of UK adults have access to a smartphone for personal use.

One in five online adults also relies solely on a smartphone for internet access.

For these users, search, product research, reviews, basket management and checkout all need to work effectively on mobile.

9. How important are reviews for ecommerce?

The Competition and Markets Authority cites research indicating that 89% of consumers use online reviews when researching products or services.

Reviews can therefore influence product choice after the customer has already discovered a retailer or product.

10. Do users trust products simply because they rank highly in Google?

No.

Only 17% of adults in Ofcom’s latest research believed that appearing in search results meant the website would contain accurate and unbiased information.

Most users recognised that some results would be trustworthy while others would not.

11. Are marketplaces replacing ecommerce websites?

Not necessarily.

Marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Temu and Vinted have enormous audiences, but retailer websites remain important for brand control, customer data, product information, margins and direct conversion.

The more accurate view is that shoppers can move between multiple environments before purchasing.

12. Is AI replacing ecommerce SEO?

The evidence does not support that conclusion.

Google Search remains widely used while AI functions are increasingly being added inside search itself.

Retailers still need technically accessible pages, strong category architecture, complete product information and credible reviews.

13. What percentage of Google searches show AI Overviews?

Ofcom reports that approximately 30% of Google searches display AI-generated Overviews.

That makes AI-generated information part of the mainstream search environment rather than a separate niche experience.

14. How popular is ChatGPT in the UK?

Ofcom measured approximately 1.8 billion UK visits to ChatGPT between January and August 2025.

That was up from 368 million in the equivalent period of 2024.

Not all of those visits involved product research or ecommerce.

15. How does AI search change product discovery?

AI search allows consumers to describe detailed requirements rather than relying on a short keyword.

Google says AI Mode queries can be two to three times longer than conventional searches.

That can make detailed attributes increasingly important, including:

• Size.
• Price.
• Compatibility.
• Material.
• Use case.
• Features.

16. What should ecommerce businesses prioritise for SEO in 2026?

A sensible order is:

1. Fix crawlability and indexation.
2. Strengthen category architecture.
3. Improve important product pages.
4. Maintain accurate structured product data and feeds.
5. Improve mobile usability.
6. Build genuine reviews and trust.
7. Create useful comparison and buying content.
8. Understand relevant marketplaces.
9. Prepare products for conversational and AI-assisted discovery.
10. Measure revenue and customer acquisition rather than rankings alone.

Conclusion — Ecommerce SEO Statistics UK 2026

The 50 statistics in this report show that ecommerce SEO is evolving from a website-ranking discipline into a broader system of product discovery, comparison, verification and conversion.

Online retail already represents a substantial share of British retail spending. Almost every UK online adult uses online retail services. Google Search remains deeply embedded in discovery behaviour, while Amazon, eBay, Temu, Vinted and other marketplaces command enormous audiences.

At the same time, mobile shopping, reviews and AI-assisted search are changing how consumers research products before they buy.

The strategic consequence is clear:

Ecommerce visibility can no longer be measured by Google rankings alone.

Online Retail Is Structurally Embedded in Consumer Behaviour

Online sales represented 28.8% of seasonally adjusted retail spending in Great Britain in August 2026.

That compares with only 4.9% in 2008 and 19.2% immediately before the pandemic in 2019.

Ecommerce is therefore not a temporary shift created by the pandemic.

It has become a permanent component of modern retail.

Product Discovery Is Fragmented Across Multiple Platforms

Consumers increasingly discover products through different environments.

These can include:

• Google Search.
• Google Shopping.
• Amazon.
• eBay.
• Temu.
• Vinted.
• Retailer websites and apps.
• AI assistants.

No single platform controls every stage of the ecommerce journey.

Retailers therefore need to understand where discovery happens within their own product categories.

Google Search Remains Central

The rise of marketplaces and AI search does not remove the importance of Google.

Search-engine usage remains near-universal, and Google continues to reach the majority of UK online adults.

Category pages, product pages, buying guides and brand content therefore remain important commercial assets.

The difference is that Google now forms part of a wider discovery system rather than being the only important gateway.

Mobile Is Now the Default Ecommerce Environment

Smartphone access is near-universal, while one in five online adults relies entirely on mobile internet access.

This means retailers increasingly need to treat mobile performance as fundamental to:

• Product discovery.
• Product comparison.
• Reviews.
• Basket interaction.
• Checkout.

Poor mobile usability can therefore undermine both SEO performance and commercial conversion.

Reviews Sit Between Discovery and Revenue

The evidence shows that online reviews play a major role in consumer research.

For many ecommerce journeys, the path increasingly resembles:

Search → Product → Reviews → Comparison → Purchase

rather than:

Search → Product → Purchase

This makes product reputation and retailer credibility increasingly difficult to separate from search performance.

Product Information Is Becoming Search Infrastructure

Search engines, marketplaces and AI systems all need structured, accurate information in order to understand products.

That increases the strategic importance of:

• Product attributes.
• Pricing.
• Availability.
• Variants.
• Identifiers.
• Specifications.
• Compatibility.
• Use cases.

Retailers with better product data may be easier to match against increasingly detailed consumer requirements.

AI Search Expands Rather Than Replaces Ecommerce SEO

AI Overviews, AI Mode and conversational assistants are changing how consumers ask questions.

The emerging ecommerce journey may increasingly begin with detailed requirements rather than short keywords.

For example:

“Best waterproof walking shoes under £150 for wide feet and long-distance weekend hiking”

Queries of this kind place greater value on detailed attributes, comparison information and clear product relevance.

Traditional SEO therefore remains important, but the optimisation target is becoming broader.

Research Usage, Citation & Press

CGO Media publishes ecommerce, SEO and AI search research to support journalists, researchers, retailers, ecommerce teams, analysts and organisations examining how product discovery is changing in the UK.

The statistics and analysis within this report may be referenced in editorial coverage, industry reports, presentations, academic work and commercial analysis, provided the original source and relevant context are retained.

Using Individual Statistics

Where an individual figure originates from the Office for National Statistics, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ofcom, Ipsos iris, the Competition and Markets Authority, Google or another external organisation, CGO Media recommends citing the original source wherever practical.

CGO Media may be cited for the selection, organisation, comparison and interpretation of those statistics within the broader context of UK ecommerce SEO and product discovery.

Using CGO Media Analysis

The analytical sections of this report — including the Ecommerce Discovery Model, practical recommendations, trend analysis and interpretation of the 50 statistics — represent CGO Media Research Team analysis.

Journalists, publishers and researchers may quote or summarise these findings with attribution to:

Press & Media Enquiries

Journalists, editors, broadcasters and industry publications requiring additional commentary or clarification can use the dedicated CGO Media Press & Media area.

Relevant enquiry topics include:

• UK ecommerce growth.
• Online retail trends.
• Ecommerce SEO.
• Google Search and Shopping.
• Amazon and marketplace discovery.
• Mobile commerce.
• Online reviews and trust.
• AI search.
• AI shopping and product recommendations.
• Product data and structured information.
• Conversational search behaviour.
• Future ecommerce visibility.

Research Methodology

CGO Media publishes a dedicated Research Methodology explaining how evidence is selected, checked and interpreted across the wider research programme.

The methodology covers:

• Primary and secondary source selection.
• Geographic scope.
• Audience measurement.
• Platform-reported data.
• Derived calculations.
• Research limitations.
• Responsible interpretation.

View the CGO Media Research Methodology

Research Updates

Ecommerce and product-discovery environments change quickly.

Retail spending, marketplace usage, Google interfaces, AI shopping systems, consumer trust and generative-AI adoption may all shift materially as new evidence becomes available.

CGO Media therefore reviews relevant research periodically and recommends preserving the original date, geography, population and methodology when quoting individual statistics.

Editorial & Research Attribution

This report was prepared and reviewed by the CGO Media Research Team as part of CGO Media’s wider research programme examining SEO, GEO, AI search, source authority, citation authority and changing digital discovery.

The report combines external evidence with CGO Media analysis to examine how products and retailers are discovered across Google, marketplaces, reviews, mobile interfaces and emerging AI-assisted search systems.

Sources & References

The Ecommerce SEO Statistics UK 2026 report draws primarily on official UK statistics, regulatory research, independent audience measurement and first-party platform data.

Where possible, CGO Media has linked directly to the organisation responsible for producing the underlying evidence rather than to third-party statistics compilations.

1. Office for National Statistics — Retail Sales, Great Britain: August 2026

Publisher: Office for National Statistics
Publication: Retail Sales, Great Britain: August 2026
Release date: 18 September 2026
Geography: Great Britain

This is the principal source for the latest online-retail spending statistics used at the beginning of the report.

The August 2026 release reports that online spending values:

• rose 2.5% month on month;
• were 8.9% higher than August 2025;
• were 10.1% higher over the latest three months than the corresponding 2025 period; and
• represented 28.8% of seasonally adjusted retail spending.

View ONS Retail Sales: August 2026

2. Office for National Statistics — Retail Sales Index Internet Sales Time Series

Publisher: Office for National Statistics
Dataset: Retail Sales Index — Internet Sales
Series: MS6Y, seasonally adjusted proportion of retail sales
Geography: Great Britain

The long-running ONS series provides the historical benchmark used to show how ecommerce’s share of retail has changed.

The current series records:

• 4.9% in 2008;
• 19.2% in 2019;
• 28.1% in 2020;
• 30.8% in 2021;
• 27.1% in 2024; and
• 27.5% in 2025.

View ONS Internet Retail Sales Series MS6Y

3. Ofcom — Online Nation 2025

Publisher: Ofcom
Publication: Online Nation 2025
Audience measurement: Ipsos iris
Geography: United Kingdom

Ofcom’s Online Nation research provides the principal audience data for UK retail platforms and major online services.

Relevant evidence includes:

• 98% of UK online adults visiting an online retail service.
• Average retail-service usage of 18 minutes per day.
• Amazon reaching 43.2 million online adults, or 88%.
• eBay reaching 30.7 million, or 63%.
• Temu reaching 28.4 million.
• Vinted reaching 14.3 million.
• Strong audience growth for Temu, Vinted and Shein.
• ChatGPT generating 1.8 billion UK visits during January–August 2025.

View Ofcom Online Nation

4. Ofcom — From Apps to AI Search: How the UK Goes Online in 2025

Publisher: Ofcom
Published: 10 December 2025
Research area: Search behaviour, Google usage, AI Overviews and generative AI

This Ofcom analysis provides several of the report’s key search and AI-discovery statistics.

Ofcom reports that:

• Google Search is used by 82% of UK adults.
• Approximately 3 billion Google searches take place each month.
• Around 30% of searches show AI Overviews.
• 53% of adults say they often see AI-generated search summaries.
• ChatGPT received 1.8 billion UK visits during the first eight months of 2025.
• The equivalent ChatGPT total was 368 million visits in 2024.

View From Apps to AI Search

5. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology — Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026

Publisher: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Published: 16 July 2026
Geography: United Kingdom

The DSIT survey provides official UK evidence on internet behaviour, online purchasing, device access and generative-AI usage.

Relevant findings include:

• 95% of adults recently using the internet.
• 97% of internet users looking something up using a search engine.
• 92% buying products or services online.
• 93% of adults having access to a smartphone.
• 59% of adults recently using generative AI.
• 83% of generative-AI users in the online sample using it personally.
• 47% identifying easier access to information or advice as an AI benefit.
• 74% concerned that AI-generated information may be inaccurate.

View DSIT Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026

6. Ofcom — Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026

Publisher: Ofcom
Publication: Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026
Research area: Search-engine use, advertising recognition and trust

This report provides the principal evidence used to understand how UK adults interpret search results.

Relevant findings include:

• 96% of online adults reporting search-engine use.
• Nearly 9 billion Google Search page views among UK adults in October 2025.
• 52% correctly identifying sponsored Google results.
• 25% attributing sponsored prominence to relevance.
• 24% attributing prominence to popularity.
• 81% feeling confident recognising online advertising.
• 45% being both confident and correct when tested.
• 17% assuming search-result inclusion means information is accurate and unbiased.
• 63% recognising that some results may be reliable while others are not.

View Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes 2026

7. Competition and Markets Authority — Online Consumer Reviews

Publisher: Competition and Markets Authority
Case area: Online consumer reviews and fake-review enforcement
Latest relevant update: March 2026

The CMA provides the regulatory and consumer-behaviour evidence used in the review and trust section of this report.

Relevant evidence includes:

• 89% of consumers using online customer reviews when researching products or services.
• Up to £23 billion of UK consumer spending potentially influenced by online reviews annually.
• A review of more than 100 business websites.
• 54 businesses identified as potentially failing to comply with CMA fake-review guidance.
• Five new consumer-law investigations opened in March 2026.

View CMA Online Consumer Reviews

8. Google UK — Introducing AI Mode in Search

Publisher: Google
Published: 28 July 2025
Research area: Conversational and AI-assisted search

Google’s first-party AI Mode announcement is used specifically for the evidence on changing query behaviour.

Google states that early AI Mode users ask questions that are approximately two to three times longer than traditional search queries.

Google also explicitly identifies product comparison as an example of a more complex task suited to AI Mode.

View Google AI Mode UK

9. Google Shopping — Shopping Graph & Agentic Commerce

Publisher: Google
Published: 19 May 2026
Research area: Product data, Shopping Graph and AI-assisted commerce

Google reported that its Shopping Graph contains more than 60 billion product listings.

Google also states that consumers shop across its services more than one billion times each day.

These are global Google platform statistics rather than UK-specific measurements and are labelled accordingly in the report.

View Google’s Shopping Graph & Universal Cart Announcement

Statistics-to-Source Map

Source Hierarchy

Research Review Date

Research reviewed: September 2026

Prepared by: CGO Media Research Team

Retail sales, marketplace audiences, search interfaces and generative-AI systems continue to change rapidly.

Individual statistics should therefore be checked against the latest edition of the underlying source when used in future publications.