Black Friday Online Spending Hits $11.8 Billion Record as AI Tools Drive Surge
Americans shattered online shopping records on the year’s biggest retail day, with artificial intelligence emerging as a key accelerator in the frenzy. Shoppers turned to AI chatbots for price comparisons and deal hunting, funneling unprecedented traffic to retail sites. This fusion of technology and commerce signals a permanent shift in how consumers navigate holiday purchases.
Total online spending reached $11.8 billion, marking a 9.1 percent increase over the previous year. Mobile devices accounted for 80 percent of transactions, up from 75 percent in 2024, according to Adobe Analytics data tracking over one trillion visits to 85 million product pages. Desktop usage declined to 18 percent, while tablet shares held steady at 2 percent. The spike reflects broader e-commerce growth, with projections estimating $12.4 billion for Cyber Monday.
AI played a pivotal role, with an 805 percent year-over-year increase in AI-generated traffic to U.S. retail websites. Shoppers utilized large language models to streamline decisions, reducing search times by an average of 40 percent per session. Nearly half of surveyed consumers reported using or intending to use AI for holiday shopping, citing its ability to personalize recommendations based on past behaviors and real-time inventory data. This adoption aligns with a 25 percent rise in voice-assisted queries via smart devices.
Specific tools amplified the trend. Walmart’s ‘Sparky’ chatbot handled over 10 million queries, offering bundle suggestions and virtual try-ons integrated with augmented reality filters. Amazon’s ‘Rufus’ processed 15 million interactions, excelling in cross-category comparisons like electronics versus apparel. These features leverage multimodal AI, combining text, image recognition, and predictive analytics to forecast stockouts with 92 percent accuracy. Retailers reported a 15 percent uplift in conversion rates from AI-guided carts.
For U.S. businesses, the data underscores AI’s monetization potential amid rising operational costs. E-commerce platforms invested $2.5 billion in AI enhancements this quarter, per Gartner estimates, focusing on fraud detection algorithms that blocked $1.2 billion in illicit transactions. Small merchants benefited from accessible integrations, with Shopify’s AI suite enabling 30 percent faster product listings for 1.2 million stores. However, challenges persist, including data privacy concerns under the FTC’s updated guidelines, which mandate opt-in consent for behavioral tracking.
Broader implications extend to supply chain logistics, where AI optimized delivery routes, cutting fulfillment times by 22 percent for major carriers like UPS. Consumer electronics led categories with $3.2 billion in sales, followed by apparel at $2.1 billion, as AI-driven personalization boosted impulse buys by 18 percent. Analysts forecast AI contributing $150 billion to U.S. retail revenue by 2027, driven by embedded agents in apps that anticipate needs via natural language processing.
This Black Friday exemplifies AI’s maturation from novelty to necessity, reshaping competitive dynamics. Legacy retailers like Target deployed similar bots, achieving 12 percent engagement growth, while startups like Perplexity AI captured 5 percent of search referrals. As adoption deepens, expect refinements in ethical AI, such as bias audits in recommendation engines, to address disparities in product visibility across demographics. The event cements e-commerce’s dominance, with physical store traffic down 4 percent, per Placer.ai metrics.
