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."