The AI Commerce Rankings that Digital Commerce 360 and ReFiBuy launched in July debuted as a new way to understand which online retailers were getting the most help from artificial intelligence, looking not only at how visible they are in AI channels, but also — among other data points — how well their AI-associated reach is improving over time.
New, updated rankings are now live, and the latest quarterly results underscore key characteristics among the cohort of online retailers whose online sales are already tracked in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 Database. The market research tool tracks North America’s largest online retailers.
Previously, the new AI-associated rankings showed that online merchants benefiting most from AI traffic sources were not necessarily the same as the top-ranked retailers in the Top 1000 rankings, which are based purely on digital sales. By merchandise category and retailer name, these rankings look very different from each other. The presence of names such as Nixon, Online Labels and CustomInk near the top of the AI Commerce Rankings only further highlights their unique stories.
Which online retailers rank highest for getting help from AI
When Digital Commerce 360 first began looking at Top 1000-ranked retailers with ReFiBuy near the beginning of 2026, it was clear that what shoppers are using AI to buy most often does not necessarily mirror what they discover and purchase through traditional search channels. Taking a look at the top five online retailers alone in the AI-specific rankings from Q2 in 2026, the order was as follows:
- Nixon
- Online Labels
- Everlane
- Fashionphile
- CustomInk
In the same quarter, those companies ranked No. 722, No. 814, No. 264, No. 826 and No. 133, respectively, in the Top 1000 by web sales.
Top retailers in the AI Commerce Rankings from Q2 2026 | Image credit: ReFiBuy
“We built the AI1000 as a quarterly index because AI shopping moves on a different clock from traditional ecommerce,” said Scot Wingo, CEO and co-founder of ReFiBuy. “Q2 showed how much the market can shift in a single quarter and why retailers can’t treat Agentic Commerce Optimization as a one-time project. Retailers preparing their catalogs now will enter Q4 with a real head start as holiday shoppers increasingly turn to AI agents to research, find and buy products.”
AI rankings by merchandise category
While the presence of Online Labels and CustomInk in the AI rankings top five spots shows that personalized and custom products are discovering opportunities in AI channels, other changes in Q2 show seasonal fluctuations by merchandise category.
AI commerce rankings changes by merchandise category in Q2 2026 | Image credit: ReFiBuy
Specifically, Automotive Parts & Accessories retailers climbed an average of 20.1 positions during the quarter. Meanwhile, Flowers & Gifts fell in the rankings by an average of 17.8 points.
As ReFiBuy analysts pointed out, the variations in movement were even more apparent at the subcategory level, with lawn and garden, tools and fishing and hunting retailers seeing some of the strongest positive movement. For the same period, beer, wine and spirits, books and musical instrument sellers experienced the steepest declines.
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