AI played a central role in a record surge of online shopping as Americans shifted away from crowded stores on Black Friday.
New data from Adobe Analytics shows that US consumers spent $11.8 billion online, marking a 9.1% increase from last year, as shoppers leaned on AI tools to find discounts and avoid tariff-driven price pressures.
Adobe says AI-fueled traffic to retail sites in the US skyrocketed 805% compared to 2024 as digital assistants and chatbots steered holiday traffic by helping users sort prices, compare products and surface deals faster than traditional searches.
Says eMarketer analyst Suzy Davidkhanian,
“Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster. Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided.”
Globally, AI and agents influenced $14.2 billion in Black Friday online sales, according to Salesforce, with roughly $3 billion coming from the United States.
Salesforce adds that order volumes dropped 1%, while selling prices climbed 7%. Consumers also purchased fewer items per transaction, with units per transaction decreasing 2% compared to last year.
Says Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce,
“There are two things driving up the average selling price in the United States. The first is absolutely the impact of tariffs, especially on those discretionary categories where we’ve seen a lot of growth in selling price. The other is the fact that we’re seeing a much stronger higher-income earner than an average-income earner, evidenced by the strength in the luxury category.”
Adobe says the surge sets the stage for another record on Cyber Monday, which it projects will generate $14.2 billion in online sales and remain the single biggest shopping day of the season.
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