Cyber Monday 2025: Mobile, Social, and AI Push Sales Higher
Cyber Monday delivered clear growth. Adobe tracked $14.3 billion in U.S. online spend, up 7.1 percent, while Salesforce reported $13.6 billion, up 6 percent. Globally, the day hit $53 billion, a 7 percent lift.
Shoppers hit peak pace between 8-10 p.m., spending roughly $16 million per minute. Discounts did the heavy lifting early, with many brands stretching to 70 percent off by Monday night.
The signal through the noise
- Mobile is the default. 46.9 million consumers shopped via phone on Cyber Monday, up from 40.4 million last year.
- Cyber Monday drew 75.9 million online shoppers, up from 64.4 million in 2024. It remains the second-biggest online day after Black Friday.
- Across Cyber Week, Salesforce saw global online sales of $336.6 billion, up 7 percent. U.S. online sales rose 5 percent.
- Average selling price increased 6 percent year over year (U.S. and global).
- Social platforms drove 14 percent of global traffic to retailers and 15 percent in the U.S., up from 12 percent last year.
- AI agents influenced 20 percent of all orders through Cyber Week - $67 billion globally and $13.5 billion in the U.S. On Cyber Monday alone: $9.3 billion globally and $2 billion in the U.S.
- Traffic from third-party AI agent channels (e.g., ChatGPT, Perplexity) tripled versus last year.
- Top categories: Global - home furniture, active footwear, health and beauty, footwear. U.S. - active apparel, footwear, handbags.
Note: With U.S. inflation near 3 percent, real growth trails reported gains. Still positive, just tighter.
Black Friday vs. the weekend: how demand shifted
Black Friday is still the volume king online and in stores, but activity spread out as brands pulled deals forward. In-store traffic dipped slightly on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday picked up. Sunday set a record for in-store shoppers despite Midwest snow.
Platform reality check
Shopify had login issues for a few hours on Cyber Monday. Even so, Shopify merchants posted a record $14.6 billion from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, up 27 percent. Translation: friction hurts, but deal intensity and demand can still carry the day - if checkout options and ops are ready.
What sales leaders should do next
- Make mobile effortless: One-tap wallets, fewer form fields, fast PDPs, and clean cart UX. If it slows, it dies.
- Treat social as a storefront: Keep product feeds fresh, run native shopping formats, and track it with clean UTMs. Creative refresh cycles matter more than ever.
- Put AI to work where it pays: Guided selling, FAQs, and service flows (returns, address updates) saw a 70 percent spike in completions. Route routine tasks to AI; escalate high-intent chats to reps linked to CRM.
- Plan your discount ladder: 30-50 percent drew traffic; up to 70 percent closed late buyers. Protect margin with bundles, thresholds (free shipping, gifts), and limited windows.
- Own prime time (8-10 p.m.): Staff live chat, reserve inventory for late-day pushes, and schedule last-chance promos to match peak traffic.
- Expect new referral sources: AI agents are now a channel. Publish structured product data, FAQs, and gift guides so you surface in assistant responses. Add "AI agents" to your attribution views.
- Build resiliency: Offer guest checkout, multiple payment rails, and fallbacks if a platform hiccups. Run load tests before big drops.
- Retarget the weekend crowd: Many started buying but didn't finish - and 53 percent of holiday shopping remains. Hit cart viewers and product viewers with tight, time-boxed offers.
Holiday outlook to set expectations
The National Retail Federation expects holiday spend (Nov. 1-Dec. 31) to top $1 trillion for the first time, up 3.7-4.2 percent over 2024 - about ~1 percent growth in real terms. A record 202.9 million consumers shopped over Cyber Week, spending an average of $337.86. Clothing led gift purchases, followed by toys, books/media, and gift cards.
If you sell into consumer demand, there's opportunity - but it's uneven. Speed, social proof, and simple returns will separate the cart builders from the order closers.
30-day action checklist
- Ship a mobile-first promo plan with late-day pushes and social-exclusive bundles.
- Deploy an AI product finder and automate returns/exchanges; log every AI touch in your CRM.
- Expand attribution to include AI agent referrals; monitor assisted conversions, not just last-click.
- Bundle high-margin add-ons to offset deeper discounts. Test thresholds (AOV, shipping) daily.
- Refresh creative twice per week; rotate UGC, short video, and gift-guide formats.
- Stress-test checkout and payments, and enable guest checkout everywhere.
For deeper stats and forecast context, see the National Retail Federation and Adobe's Digital Insights.
If you're formalizing AI across sales and service, this resource map helps: Complete AI Training - courses by job.
Your membership also unlocks:
