(NewsNation) — Forget lining up at the crack of dawn: Black Friday is increasingly moving online, and shoppers are using AI to hunt down deals.
AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites jumped 770% year over year in November, Adobe Analytics data shows. The surge coincided with a record $11.8 billion in online spending on Black Friday, up 9.1% from last year.
“Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided,” Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer, told Reuters.
More than 40% of consumers are already using AI tools to help them shop, according to a recent Harris Poll survey conducted for Mastercard. Among Gen Z (61%) and millennials (57%), the share is even higher.
The trend signals a shift in Americans’ shopping habits, with AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini slipping into everyday routines — helping consumers compare products, find deals and come up with gift ideas.
In some cases, shoppers are letting AI tools handle parts of the checkout process, allowing assistants to research, and sometimes even complete, purchases with relatively little input.
The rise of AI shopping is also translating into higher conversion rates: Adobe’s data shows that visitors arriving from AI-driven traffic are more likely to make a purchase and spend more time on retailers’ sites than others.
“This indicates that with AI tools, shoppers are becoming more informed and able to pinpoint the most relevant retailers for their needs,” Vivek Pandya, director of Adobe Digital Insights, said in a recent report.
Shoppers are using AI for research and recommendations
Shoppers who turn to AI rely on it mostly for research (72%) and product recommendations (47%), according to Adobe surveys.
That guidance can be as simple as asking a chatbot, “What are the best running shoes for beginners?” or comparing two specific products side-by-side.
Finding deals (43%) and coming up with gift ideas (35%) were also common AI use cases — a sign consumers are looking for faster, more personalized ways to navigate crowded holiday categories.
Part of the appeal is that AI lets users get hyperspecific, focusing searches in ways traditional filters can’t. Instead of sorting by price or color, someone might ask for “the best raincoat under $100 for Seattle weather” or “a hard-shell carry-on that fits in overhead bins on United flights.”
Some shoppers are even using AI to reduce the chances of a return — asking chatbots to scan hundreds of user reviews to see whether an item runs small or if a product tends to have recurring issues.
“That makes reviews more informative — you don’t have to read every single text to understand what’s going on,” said Ying Zeng, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Colorado Boulder, in a recent interview.
The AI shopping battle is just getting started
AI-assisted shopping is still in its early stages, but platforms and retailers are already racing to connect recommendations more directly to buying.
OpenAI launched “instant checkout” earlier this year, allowing ChatGPT users to buy items without ever leaving the chat. The feature was limited to early partners, including Etsy, but is expected to expand to more than a million Shopify merchants “soon.”
Perplexity has also introduced an AI shopping experience, partnering with PayPal to enable in-chat checkout.
Meanwhile, Google has begun rolling out its own “agentic checkout,” which could save users time and money by automating the shopping process.
“Behind the scenes, AI does the work for you, calling to see if stores nearby have what you’re looking for, how much it costs and if there are any special promos,” Google wrote in a blog post last month.
Major retailers aren’t waiting around either. Walmart’s “Sparky” and Amazon’s “Rufus” are built to help customers find products, compare options and spend money inside their ecosystems.
What AI shopping could mean for consumers
The rise of AI-assisted shopping could mean fewer tabs, clearer prices and more informed buying decisions — but it also raises questions about trust, data use and how much sway these tools should have over what people buy.
One concern is that AI platforms could nudge buyers toward certain merchants or products, effectively narrowing what people see. As the systems become more automated, consumers will have to trust the AI to act in their interest.
And the same convenience that makes AI appealing could also be a downside, removing the small points of friction that might otherwise stop someone from buying something they can’t afford.
“At some point, we stop buying things we want and start buying just to buy,” Zeng said. “Use AI for inspiration, not persuasion.”
There are questions around incentives as well. Walmart is reportedly testing ads in its new AI shopping agent — a move that could lead to the monetization of chat experiences, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For now, traditional online search methods like Google remain dominant. A recent AT&T Business survey found that 58% of U.S. shoppers are more likely to use standard search tools to find holiday gifts, compared with just 9% who prefer AI.