AI helps drive record $11.8 billion in Black Friday online buys

AI-powered shopping tools helped drive a surge in US online spending on Black Friday, as shoppers bypassed crowded stores and turned to chatbots to compare prices and secure discounts amid concerns about tariff-driven price hikes.

- Reuters

US shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online, up 9.1% from 2024 on the year's biggest shopping day, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion visits that shoppers make to online retail websites.

The holiday shopping season arrives amid tighter budgets, unemployment nearing a four-year high, US consumer confidence sagging to a seven-month low and price tags that have shoppers watching every dollar.

Online shopping demand increased as consumers showed savviness in the holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which noted a 10.4% growth in e-commerce sales on Black Friday, compared to an in-store sales growth of 1.7% in 2024.

The AI-driven traffic to US retail sites soared 805% compared to last year, Adobe said, when artificial intelligence tools such as Walmart’s Sparky or Amazon's Rufus had not yet been launched.