Cyber Week 2025 didn’t feel frantic — it felt unusually focused. Shoppers arrived confident, prepared and clear about what they wanted because promotions were more transparent, discovery was cleaner and deal visibility began earlier than ever. That clarity rewarded brands that offered frictionless experiences — and penalized those that didn’t.
According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. shoppers spent $11.8 billion on Black Friday, up 9.1% year over year. Average order values climbed to $117.93, a sign that consumers were buying with intention rather than chasing the steepest discounts. It wasn’t an exuberant season, but it was a decisive one — and that decisiveness is the clearest signal for the year ahead.
Experience, Not Economics, Drove Growth
Despite inflation pressures, tariff uncertainty and mixed macroeconomic indicators, consumers spent more than expected. NRF projected holiday retail growth of 3.7%–4.2%, yet Cyber Week online sales delivered closer to 7.7% growth year over year, bringing in $44.2 billion.
What changed wasn’t consumers’ financial reality — it was the shopping experience. Retailers made it easier for shoppers to feel confident in their choices: promotions were clearer, product discovery was cleaner and checkout felt more trustworthy. Those improvements reduced the hesitation that typically accompanies economic uncertainty.
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Salesforce data shows retailers sold 1% fewer units, yet saw a 4.5% increase in AOV, with categories like footwear, furniture and luxury leading growth. This shift reflects a more intentional mindset: when shoppers clearly understand the value and trust the experience, they are willing to spend more on fewer, better-quality items.
Put simply, shoppers didn’t ignore the economy — the improved experience helped them overcome it.
Cyber Week Became a Full-Week Event
One of the most defining shifts this year was that shoppers didn’t wait for Friday. They spent steadily across the entire week because promotions were clear, consistent and visible early.
Salesforce reported that Tuesday (+7%), Wednesday (+8%), Saturday (+7%), and Sunday (+8%) all outpaced Black Friday’s 6% growth. Social channels also amplified early demand: TikTok referrals rose 62% and Instagram referrals rose 60% as shoppers acted on early content rather than waiting for traditional milestones.
Brands that maintained that early momentum saw the strongest results. Anthropologie, for example, performed consistently across all seven days by keeping promotions predictable, inventory signals accurate and personalization steady. Urban Outfitters benefited in a similar way by using curated drops and early recommendations that reduced uncertainty before the weekend even began.
Cyber Week is no longer a flash sale — it’s a full-week strategy.
AI Reshaped How Shoppers Discover and Decide
If 2024 was the year retailers talked about AI, 2025 was the year shoppers fully embraced it. AI became a core part of how consumers compared options, validated choices and moved from interest to purchase with greater confidence. Industry analyses reflected this shift, with Adobe noting AI-driven traffic rose more than 805% year over year and Salesforce estimating that AI-powered shopping journeys influenced roughly $14.2 billion in global online sales during Cyber Week.
This acceleration pushed the buying journey from traditional navigation into natural-language conversational discovery. Shoppers increasingly articulated intent directly — I need waterproof trail shoes for winter or Show me gifts under $50 — and expected curated, high-confidence answers rather than pages of filters. Retailers that could interpret that intent and return precise results saw a meaningful lift.
Feedonomics — Commerce’s product feed optimization platform — saw this trend play out across its customer base. On Running benefitted from agents that understood terrain- and fit-specific queries, guiding shoppers instantly to the right products. Patagonia experienced similar momentum as sustainability-focused questions outperformed generic search, elevating items built with recycled or repairable materials.
Brands already are preparing for the next phase of this shift. Brompton, for example, is designing prompt-style recommendations that factor terrain, route type and rider profile — delivering the kind of conversational guidance shoppers now expect.
AI is no longer an add-on. It is actively redefining how shoppers discover, evaluate and choose — and in 2026, the brands that optimize their product data and experiences for AI-led interactions, not traditional navigation, will pull ahead.
Checkout, Not Traffic, Determined Winners
While AI shaped discovery, checkout determined who captured demand. Mobile dominated traffic, social accounted for 14% of visits and wallet-led checkout (Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal Fastlane, among others) remained the highest-converting pathway across Salesforce’s data.
Coldwater Creek, a women’s apparel and lifestyle brand, improved completion rates simply by leading with digital wallets and removing unnecessary friction — a small decision with a major impact.
Commerce merchants outperformed broader market averages because of two strengths: discoverability and frictionless buying. Rich product feeds helped their items surface across AI-driven environments, while unified inventory and wallet-ready checkout removed barriers once shoppers decided to buy.
Saddleback Leather is a strong example. Its detailed product data — from materials to craftsmanship — helped both AI agents and human shoppers trust what they were seeing, improving both visibility and conversion.
Five Things Merchants Must Do Differently Next Year
Shoppers didn’t just shop differently this year — they decided differently. That shift reveals where retailers must focus in 2026.
1. Add prompt-style calls to action — and begin testing them now.
Shoppers and AI assistants communicate in natural language. CTAs like find my fit, recommend similar items, and show me gifts under $50 align with how intent is expressed today.
Start now: Test conversational CTAs on high-intent pages to identify which formats reduce decision-making friction.
2. Lead with wallets — and turn on every major option.
With 80% of traffic on mobile, trust and speed depend on Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal Fastlane and other leading digital wallet options.
Start now: Enable every major mobile wallet and measure its impact on conversion.
3. Enrich product data for agentic commerce — starting with your feed.
AI can only recommend what it understands. Attributes such as materials, fit, certifications, sustainability details and compatibility determine your visibility across AI-driven discovery.
Start now: Leverage platforms like Feedonomics to clean and enrich product feeds so AI agents can interpret your catalog accurately.
4. Rewrite product descriptions for intent using natural language today.
Generic copy won’t perform in an AI-first world. Descriptions should reflect the way shoppers phrase needs: best for cold-weather runs, ideal for sensitive skin, perfect for small spaces.
Start now: Update PDPs with use-case-driven language to improve both AI interpretation and shopper confidence.
5. Build for a full-week strategy — supported by stronger recommendations.
Cyber Week outperformed Black Friday across multiple days. Promotions, inventory planning and on-site experiences must span all seven days.
Start now: Optimize recommendation engines for intent-based discovery so early-week visitors immediately see relevant products.
The Road to 2026
The retailers that prepare their data, their language and their checkout experience for how shoppers behave today — not how they behaved five years ago — will define the winners of Cyber Week 2026. The brands that succeed won’t be the ones with the deepest discounts, but the ones that create the clearest, most confident path from discovery to purchase in an AI-powered world.
Al Williams, General Manager of B2C at Commerce, is a seasoned ecommerce executive with over a decade of experience driving growth in the B2C space, supporting both leading brands and SaaS platforms. A recognized industry veteran, she has partnered with hundreds of brands and retailers across diverse verticals, delivering complex digital architectures and impactful site experiences that accelerate business performance and growth. Williams specializes in crafting and executing go-to-market strategies that optimize customer engagement and drive sustainable growth, leveraging her deep expertise to align technology solutions with strategic business objectives.
