AI-powered shopping tools contributed to an increase in online spending on Black Friday in the USA as buyers avoided crowded stores and used chatbots to compare prices and find discounts. According to Adobe Analytics, US consumers spent a record-breaking $11.8 billion online on the biggest shopping day of the year, representing a 9.1% increase from 2024. The holiday shopping season begins with concerns about tariff-related price increases, tighter budgets, and an unemployment rate approaching a four-year high. Consumer confidence has also hit a seven-month low while prices continue to rise. Mastercard SpendingPulse reported a 10.4% increase in e-commerce sales on Black Friday - a sign of the growing demand for online shopping. Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer, noted that "consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster." "Finding gifts can be stressful, and LLMs (Large Language Models) make the discovery process faster and more guided," said Davidkhanian. According to Adobe, AI-generated traffic on US retail sites increased by 805% compared to the previous year - before the launch of new AI tools like Walmart's Sparky or Amazon's Rufus. Software company Salesforce reported that AI and AI agents were responsible for $14.2 billion in online sales on Black Friday worldwide, with $3 billion from the USA. The company, whose data also includes non-discretionary items like groceries, reported that US consumers spent $18 billion online on purchases on Black Friday - a 3% increase from 2024.
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