AI powers Record Black Friday Spending as US Consumers Drop Nearly $12 Billion Online
NEW YORK – American shoppers unleashed a record $11.8 billion online during Black Friday, a 9.1% increase from 2023, fueled in part by a surge in the use of artificial intelligence-powered shopping tools. The data, tracked by Adobe Analytics across a trillion visits too retail websites, signals a meaningful shift in how consumers navigate the annual shopping frenzy.
The influence of AI was especially striking, with searches for deals utilizing AI assistance skyrocketing 805% compared to the previous year, according to Adobe. This marks the first Black Friday where consumers widely leveraged tools like Amazon’s Rufus,wich debuted after last year’s shopping season.
“Consumers are using new tools to get what they need faster,” explained Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer. “Looking for gifts can be stressful, and Large Language Models (LLMs) make the revelation process seem quicker and more guided.” An Adobe survey corroborates this trend, revealing that nearly half of all respondents have either used or are interested in utilizing AI during this holiday shopping season.
Beyond simply finding deals, AI appears to be significantly impacting sales volume. Salesforce estimates that AI bots influenced a staggering $14.2 billion in online sales globally on Black Friday, including $3 billion within the United States.
However, the increased spending wasn’t necessarily reflected in a surge in items purchased. Despite the overall increase in dollars spent, consumers actually bought fewer products this year. Salesforce data shows order volume decreased by 1%, while average sales prices climbed 7%. This suggests that while shoppers were willing to spend, rising prices tempered the number of items they added to their carts.
The rise of AI-assisted shopping represents a growing trend in retail, offering consumers personalized recommendations and streamlined deal-hunting experiences. as AI technology continues to evolve, its role in shaping the future of online commerce is likely to become even more pronounced, possibly reshaping how retailers approach marketing and customer engagement in the years to come.
