*

Black Friday online sales hit $11.8 billion, up 9.1% from

last

year, Adobe Analytics says

*

AI tools help consumers find deals, boosting online

shopping

*

Physical store traffic subdued due to inflation, trade

policy

concerns

*

Cyber Monday projected to hit $14.2 billion in online

sales,

Adobe says

By Siddharth Cavale and Chandni Shah

Nov 29 (Reuters) - AI-powered shopping tools helped

drive a surge in U.S. online spending on Black Friday, as

shoppers bypassed crowded stores and turned to chatbots to

compare prices and secure discounts amid concerns about

tariff-driven price hikes.

U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online, up 9.1%

from 2024 on the year's biggest shopping day, according to Adobe

Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion visits that shoppers make to

online retail websites.

The AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites soared 805% compared

to last year, Adobe said, when artificial intelligence tools

such as Walmart's Sparky or Amazon's Rufus had not yet been

launched.

"Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need

faster," said Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer. "Gift

giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make

the discovery process feel quicker and more guided."

Nearly half of respondents to an Adobe survey said they had

used or plan to use AI for online shopping this season.

Hot sellers on Black Friday included LEGO sets, Pokemon cards,

gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, and

products ranging from Apple AirPods to KitchenAid mixers.

AI AGENTS INFLUENCED $14.2 BILLION IN ONLINE SALES GLOBALLY

Globally, AI and agents influenced $14.2 billion in online

sales on Black Friday, of which $3 billion came from the U.S.

alone, according to software firm Salesforce.

Salesforce, whose data includes non-discretionary items like

groceries, reported that U.S. consumers had spent $18 billion

online on Black Friday purchases, up 3% from a year ago, with

luxury apparel and accessories among the most popular

categories.

Although U.S. consumers spent more this Black Friday

compared to last year, price increases hampered online demand,

according to Salesforce, with shoppers purchasing fewer items at

checkout compared to last year.

Order volumes fell 1% as average selling prices rose 7%.

Consumers also purchased fewer items at checkout, with units per

transaction falling 2% on a year-over-year basis, Salesforce

said.

"There are two things driving up the average selling price

in the United States," said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer

insights at Salesforce.

"The first is absolutely the impact of tariffs, especially on

those discretionary categories where we've seen a lot of growth

in selling price. The other is the fact that we're seeing a much

stronger higher-income earner than average-income earner,

evidenced by the strength in the luxury category," she added.

The spending surge sets the stage for an even bigger Cyber

Monday, projected to drive $14.2 billion in sales, up 6.3% on a

year-over-year basis and the largest online shopping day of the

year, Adobe said. Electronics are expected to see the deepest

discounts on Cyber Monday, reaching 30% off list prices, along

with strong deals on apparel and computers, Adobe said.

At physical stores, however, the bargain-chasing was relatively

subdued on Black Friday, with some shoppers saying they feared

overspending amid persistent inflation, trade-driven

uncertainty, and a soft labor market.

Standing in line at a Best Buy store on Black Friday,

Lesliee Antonette, a consultant from Los Angeles, was buying an

ice cream maker for her mother. "I got a good deal on the ice

cream maker, but I was very aware of prices on everything in the

store," she said.

"I suspect holiday shopping this year will be very

thoughtful, considering the costs. I know mine will be."