While Black Friday was once known as the day for in-person shopping (complete with lining up at 4 a.m. and elbowing your way through frenzied crowds), it’s become much more of an online affair, part of the larger “Cyber Week” period spanning Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.
The dominance of ecommerce is evident in this year’s results: U.S. online sales for Cyber Week grew to $79.6 billion, up 5% YoY, according to data from Salesforce. Globally, online sales increased 7% YoY, to $333.6 billion. Adobe also has reported strong Cyber Week growth in online sales, up 7.7% YoY.
Of course, many shoppers also visited stores over the weekend: in fact, 129.5 million consumers shopped in person over the five-day period, up 3% from the 126 million shoppers in 2024, according to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF). The number of online shoppers also grew, rising from 124.3 million in 2024 to 134.9 million. Additionally, according to Placer.ai, in-person visits to retail stores increased 2.7% compared to Cyber Week 2024, led by a 3.1% traffic increase at indoor malls.
Top shopping destinations during the weekend were supermarkets (47%); online (45%); department stores (40%); clothing stores (37%); and discount stores (30%), according to the NRF. As expected, promotions and discounts drew in many shoppers: 54% took advantage of early holiday sales during Cyber Week.
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Noting that NRF had forecast the first trillion-dollar holiday season last month, CEO and President Matthew Shay said during a conference call Tuesday that “we still believe we’re on track to meet that forecast; we’re very confident with the results of this weekend. For many American families, holiday shopping is an essential party of the budget, and this weekend is the psychological kickoff of the holidays, notwithstanding that many consumers have been out shopping for several months already.”
For reference, during the 2024 holiday season, U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that core retail sales grew 4% over the previous year to reach a then-record $994.1 billion.
AI Influences 1 in Every 5 Orders
Agentic AI has quickly become an important consumer shopping tool: during Cyber Week, AI and agents influenced 20% of all orders worldwide, accounting for $67 billion in global sales, according to Salesforce. In the U.S., agentic AI drove 17% of orders, or $13.5 billion in sales. Retailers with their own branded agents saw their sales increase 32% faster than those without agents, while the number of tasks completed by agents rose 70%.
“This Cyber Week data confirms a complete shift: AI agents are no longer just a cost-saving measure, but an incredible purchase and productivity accelerator in commerce,” said Caila Schwartz, Director of Consumer Insights at Salesforce in a statement. “The 70% spike in completed service tasks, like initiating returns and updating addresses, means agents are doing the heavy lifting, enabling brands with branded AI to grow 32% faster and deliver true business impact at scale.”
Cyber Week Stars: Mobile and BNPL
The growing dominance of mobile commerce also was on display this past week, accounting for 57.5% of U.S. online sales on Cyber Monday and translating to $8.2 billion in spend, according to Adobe. That’s an 8% YoY increase, and it’s even more remarkable given that as recently as 2020, mobile’s Cyber Monday share was just 41.4%. On Thanksgiving Day, mobile share crossed the 60% threshold for the first time, coming in at 61.6%.
Another milestone was hit by buy now, pay later services, which drove $1.03 billion in online spend, up 4.2% YoY, according to Adobe. The vast majority of these BNPL transactions are happening on mobile devices, which had a 79.4% share on Cyber Monday compared to desktop purchases. Respondents to an Adobe consumer survey conducted last month said they were most likely to use BNPL services to buy electronics, apparel, toys and furniture.
Retailers, particularly big box stores that depend heavily on in-person traffic, used techniques both new (AI assistants) and old (in-person giveaways) to draw in shoppers. Target reported lines at nearly 90% of its physical stores, with an average of 150 shoppers per store waiting for the retailer’s in-store giveaways (some locations had nearly 500 customers in line). All 100 gift bags at each participating store were claimed by the 6 a.m. store opening time.
Walmart touted the convenience that’s possible with its 4,600-store footprint. The retailer boosted same-day deliveries from stores by 57% on Black Friday, with 44% more orders delivered in under three hours.
Will Cyber Week Momentum Continue Through the Season?
Strong Cyber Week results are a positive indicator for the overall holiday season. Early last month, the NRF predicted that this would be the first holiday season to top a trillion dollars, based on a 3.7% to 4.2% increase over the Nov. 1-Dec. 31 period in 2024. That was despite an October 2025 NRF forecast of a 1.3% dip in per-person holiday spending this year, down from the record high of $901.99 in 2024 to a projected $890.49 this year.
PwC had been one of the few major firms to predict a decrease in overall average consumer spend this season, a 5% drop compared to 2024’s 7% increase. But the PwC Holiday Sentiment Survey, conducted in October, projected a per-person gift spend of $770, up from $721 in June. That 7% increase marks a “subtle but important shift,” according to a PwC statement: “Consumer sentiment is evolving, and so are the trade-offs people are willing to make. Digging into generational trends reveals even more nuance. Millennials are pulling back their expected gift spend (now $843, compared to $921 in June), and we see a similar trend among Gen X ($679 compared to $705 in June). That may be driven by parents balancing holiday priorities with rising costs. Meanwhile, baby boomers ($858, compared to $671 in June) and Gen Z ($622, compared to $586 in June) are planning to spend more. For Gen Z, this increase may reflect higher prices. For older generations, it may signal more financial stability, and a willingness to splurge on children and grandchildren.”
Balancing Promotion with Profit
An even bigger question concerns retailers’ bottom lines, particularly given the heavy discounting that takes place during Cyber Week (and beyond). Every year, retailers must balance the discounts they offer against margin erosion.
“U.S. retailers leaned heavily on discounts this holiday season to drive online demand,” said Vivek Pandy, Lead Analyst at Adobe Digital Insights in a statement. “Competitive and persistent deals throughout Cyber Week pushed consumers to shop earlier, creating an environment where Black Friday now challenges the dominance of Cyber Monday [in online sales]. Shoppers have also become increasingly savvy in finding the best deals and locating the right products, embracing generative AI-powered chat services and browser tools for the second season in a row.”
The NRF’s Shay had one more positive statistic for holiday 2025: “Consumers tell us they’ve completed just under half of their holiday shopping (47%), so there’s a lot of shopping left to do through the next three-and-a-half weeks. I think this is a great foundation for a record $1 trillion holiday season.”
