AI shopping assistants drive record U.S. Black Friday online sales to $11.8 billion

AI-driven shopping assistants propelled U.S. Black Friday online sales to $11.8 billion, rapidly increasing site traffic and conversions as consumers used bots for price checks, personalised deals and discounts amid tariff-driven price pressures and inflation.

Online shoppers in the United States pushed Black Friday digital spending to a record $11.8 billion, industry trackers reported, as an array of AI-powered assistants helped consumers compare prices, hunt discounts and speed checkout. Retail analytics platforms recorded a dramatic rise in AI-driven traffic to ecommerce sites, with tools from major retailers now routing product discovery and price-matching through large language model–based systems.

Retailers including Walmart and Amazon deployed shopping assistants at scale this season, marking the first major holiday cycle in which LLM-based agents were widely available on mainstream platforms. Surveys indicate nearly half of U.S. shoppers used or planned to use AI to support holiday purchases, underlining rapid consumer adoption of these new discovery tools.

Bigger sales, fewer items per basket

While aggregate online spending grew year-on-year, shoppers bought slightly fewer items. Order volumes dipped as average selling prices rose—reflecting both tariff-driven cost increases and selective spending behaviour among consumers. Data from commerce platforms suggested AI and agentic systems influenced billions of dollars in sales globally, highlighting their emerging role in shaping purchase decisions and advertising effectiveness.

Luxury apparel, consumer electronics and seasonal toys led category growth, with hot sellers ranging from gaming consoles and headphones to premium kitchen appliances. Analysts noted that higher average transaction values were often driven by wealthier shoppers and by price headwinds tied to tariffs and inflation.

What retailers and shoppers should watch

The expanded use of AI for product discovery and personalised offers is expected to reshape retailer strategies for pricing, promotions and media spend through 2026. Retailers will monitor whether AI-driven discovery continues to lift conversion rates in December, or if inflationary pressure constrains basket sizes. Meanwhile, consumers benefit from faster deal-finding, but face the trade-off of rising prices and fewer units per dollar.

Industry forecasts also point to a strong Cyber Monday, with projections suggesting further online gains as retailers apply lessons from Black Friday’s AI-driven surge.