AI Chatbots Fueled Record Black Friday Online Spend: What Finance and Sales Teams Should Do Now
U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, up 9.1% year over year, according to Adobe Analytics. The big shift: customers skipped crowded stores and used AI assistants to compare prices, find discounts, and buy faster.
Budgets are tight. Unemployment is edging higher, confidence is soft, and tariffs are pushing product costs up. That mix pushed savvy shoppers to e-commerce, where they could hunt deals efficiently with AI-powered tools.
What changed this year
- AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites jumped 805% from last year, as tools like Walmart's Sparky and Amazon's Rufus entered the mix.
- E-commerce grew 10.4% on Black Friday (Mastercard SpendingPulse), while in-store sales growth was just 1.7% versus 2024.
- Top sellers: LEGO sets, Pokemon cards, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Apple AirPods, KitchenAid mixers, and luxury apparel/accessories.
Pricing reality: higher ASP, fewer items
Globally, AI agents influenced $14.2 billion in online sales on Black Friday, with $3 billion from the U.S., per Salesforce. Salesforce also tracked $18 billion in total U.S. online spend, up 3% from last year. Different totals reflect different coverage and methodology, but the directional signals match: strong online demand, helped by AI.
The catch: discount rates were flat versus 2024, while average selling prices rose 7%. Order volumes fell 1% and units per transaction dropped 2%. In other words, shoppers paid more per item and bought fewer items.
- Tariffs pushed up prices, especially in discretionary categories.
- Higher-income shoppers showed more strength than average earners, supporting luxury demand.
What this means for margin
Revenue gains masked unit softness. If your mix skewed to higher-priced items and luxury, AOV looked healthy, but unit declines and flat discounts likely pressured contribution margin once advertising and fulfillment are fully loaded.
Expect tighter promo elasticity: customers will hunt, compare, and wait for better deals with help from AI agents. The gap between listed discounts and perceived value widened due to higher base prices.
Moves to make now (Finance + Sales)
- Make your catalog AI-ready: clean product titles, attributes, and FAQs so retail chatbots surface your SKUs accurately. Add clear price/benefit comparisons and bundle logic that AI can parse.
- Protect margin with structure: use good-better-best price tiers, bundle to lift perceived value, and fence deeper promos to high-intent segments or loyalty members.
- Rebalance discounts: keep headline offers simple, but push real value into curated bundles and add-ons. Model promo ROI at the item level (post-returns, post-paid media).
- Plan for tariff pass-through: run sensitivity scenarios (+1-5% cost) and identify low-elasticity SKUs where small increases stick. Hedge key inputs where viable.
- Follow the money: lean into higher-income cohorts with targeted placements and premium assortments; monitor UPT and contribution margin, not just AOV.
- Close the loop on AI-influenced traffic: feed real-time inventory and pricing to channels where chatbots pull data. Broken availability kills conversion when agents steer demand.
- Test incrementality weekly: shift spend toward placements and queries where AI agents show strong assist or first-touch value. Cut low-lift retargeting.
Cyber Monday: where to push
Adobe expects Cyber Monday to hit $14.2 billion in sales, up 6.3% year over year. Electronics should see the deepest markdowns, approaching 30% off list, with strong deals in apparel and computers.
- Load inventory and bids early; AI agents will pre-aggregate deal lists the night before.
- Prioritize SKUs with healthy margin at 25-30% off after ad costs and returns. Use bundles to hold unit economics.
- Keep service tight: fast shipping and transparent ETAs are conversion levers when offers look similar.
Data notes and further reading
Figures cited above come from Adobe Analytics, Mastercard SpendingPulse, and Salesforce. Methodologies vary, but the pattern is consistent: AI is compressing discovery, pushing higher ASPs, and rewarding clear value signals.
Upskill your team on AI for revenue impact
If you're building an AI roadmap for pricing, merchandising, or forecasting, start with practical tools and playbooks your team can apply this quarter.
Bottom line: AI didn't just add traffic-it rewired how customers search, compare, and decide. Finance and Sales teams that tune pricing, data feeds, and promotions for AI-driven discovery will bank the lift without giving back margin.
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