Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2025: What the Data Says About AI, Mobile and Owned Channels

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 set new records in the US — but the headline numbers hide a more useful story for ecommerce brands. Shoppers spent more per order on fewer, higher-priced items, more of them arrived from AI assistants, and mobile and owned channels carried a bigger share of sales than ever. Here's what the public data shows, and what to do with it before next season.

The headline numbers

Black Friday grew faster than Cyber Monday for the second year running, according to Adobe. In-store traffic grew too — NRF counted 129.5 million in-store shoppers, up 3% — but online growth was three times faster.

Shoppers bought up, not more

Adobe reports that discounts pushed shoppers toward more expensive products: the share of units sold in the highest price bands rose sharply in electronics and sporting goods. Shopify's average cart was $114.70. The lesson for brands is that a deep sitewide discount is not the only lever — shoppers responded to value on premium products.

AI assistants became a real traffic source

The biggest change was where shoppers started. Adobe recorded an 805% increase in traffic from AI chat assistants to US retail sites on Black Friday compared with 2024, and those visitors converted 38% better than shoppers from other sources that day. Across the holiday season the gap was 31%.

This matters because AI assistants recommend products based on what they can read: product data, structured data, reviews and clear product copy. Stores with thin product pages or missing structured data are harder for an assistant to recommend.

Mobile was the main storefront

Mobile accounted for 57.5% of Cyber Monday online sales, according to Adobe. NRF counted 46.9 million people shopping on their phones on Cyber Monday, up from 40.4 million a year earlier. Buy Now, Pay Later drove $1.03 billion on Cyber Monday, almost 80% of it on mobile.

Mobile apps did well too: Tapcart reports $71.7 million in app sales across its merchants over BFCM weekend and $135.4 million over Cyber Week, with an average order value of $115.29.

Email and SMS carried more of the load

Klaviyo reports that its customers sent more than 22.7 billion messages over BFCM, up 25%, and that email and SMS together accounted for 42% of those brands' total revenue over the period. Revenue from SMS grew 25% year over year. Owned channels — the ones you don't pay for per click — are where brands protected their margins.

What to do before next BFCM

1. Make product data AI-readable. Complete product titles, descriptions, variants and structured data (Product, Review, Offer) so assistants and search engines can understand and recommend your products.
2. Treat mobile as the main checkout. Test the full journey on a mid-range phone; enable Shop Pay and BNPL options; cut anything that slows the product page.
3. Grow owned audiences early. Build email and SMS lists from September, and plan a sequence — early access, launch, last chance — instead of one blast.
4. Lead with value, not only discounts. Bundles, gift-with-purchase and tiered offers protect margin while still giving shoppers a reason to buy.
5. Load-test integrations, not just the storefront. Shopify scales the store, but ERP, inventory and app connections are often what fails under peak volume.

Getting ready for peak season

If you want a second pair of eyes on your store's speed, product data or checkout before peak season, we offer a free 30-minute review. Book a free consultation.