Despite High Interest, Most Consumers Have Reservations About AI for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
New research from Sinch AB reveals a striking contradiction in consumer attitudes toward AI during the 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BF/CM) shopping period. Although 48% of consumers agree that AI can simplify their holiday shopping experience, more than 90% still express concerns about privacy and data use related to AI technologies.
This insight highlights a critical challenge for brands: consumers want the advantages AI offers, but only if it’s trustworthy, transparent, and respectful of their data.
Consumer Expectations: More Than Just Technology
Shoppers are increasingly open to AI-powered features like order tracking and chatbot support, with 53% wanting AI-driven tracking updates and 38% comfortable interacting with chatbots. However, personalization efforts face skepticism; a 43% year-over-year increase shows consumers find personalized messages more invasive.
Key findings from Sinch's State of Customer Communications 2025 report include:
- Only 32% of consumers feel comfortable sharing personal preferences with AI assistants.
- 53% have mistaken legitimate brand messages for spam.
- 79% trust messages more when verified with brand logos or sender IDs.
- 72% find AI recommendations helpful—but only if they are relevant and delivered via appropriate channels.
These numbers point to a growing demand for clear, verified, and meaningful communication. Consumers aren’t rejecting AI or personalization—they’re rejecting messaging that feels generic, intrusive, or unclear.
What PR and Communications Professionals Need to Know
Frictionless commerce is no longer enough to capture consumer attention during peak shopping periods. Brands must prioritize secure, transparent, and authentic communication to build trust.
Sinch supports this approach by providing privacy-first, scalable communication tools. For example, during Black Friday 2024, Sinch delivered over 800 million SMS messages with 99.99% uptime and enterprise-grade encryption, demonstrating the importance of reliability and security.
For your BF/CM campaigns, consider focusing on:
- Transparency about how AI uses consumer data.
- Verified messaging to reduce spam perceptions.
- Personalized content that feels relevant without being invasive.
- Secure delivery channels that enhance trust.
Trust has become the key conversion factor this holiday season. Brands that clearly demonstrate they respect consumer data and communicate authentically stand to gain the most engagement and loyalty.
About Sinch
Sinch is a leader in customer communication technology, serving over 175,000 businesses worldwide. Their Customer Communications Cloud helps improve customer experience across mobile messaging, voice, and email channels. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Sinch trades on NASDAQ Stockholm (XSTO: SINCH).
Recent recognitions include:
- 2025 Adobe Digital Experience Unified Customer Experience Technology Partner of the Year
- 2023 & 2024 Adobe Digital Experience ISV Resell Partner of the Year
- Leader in the 2024 CPaaS Omdia Universe and Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CPaaS (2023-2025)
- Leader in the CPaaS Leaderboard by Juniper Research 2024
- Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide CPaaS 2021, 2023, and 2025 Vendor Assessments
To explore how Sinch can support smarter holiday campaigns and close the trust gap, visit sinch.com.
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