AI-driven shopping tools boosted U.S. online spending this Black Friday, as consumers avoided stores and used chatbots to compare prices and lock in deals amid tariff concerns. The holiday season this year started amid tighter budgets, and rising unemployment (which is hovering around a four-year high).
Still, U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online, up 9.1% from 2024, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion website visits, per Reuters, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.
E-Commerce Growth Outpaces In-Store Sales
Online demand jumped sharply, with e-commerce sales rising 10.4% compared with just 1.7% in-store growth, Mastercard SpendingPulse reported, as quoted on the above-mentioned source. AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail websites surged 805% from last year, per Adobe, as quoted on the above-mentioned source.
Popular Black Friday purchases included the likes of LEGO sets, Pokémon cards, Nintendo Switch and PS5 consoles, and items like Apple AirPods.
AI Agents Drive $14.2 Billion in Global Sales
Globally, AI agents drove $14.2 billion in online Black Friday sales, with $3 billion coming from the United States, according to Salesforce, as mentioned in the same Yahoo Finance article. Salesforce data — covering both discretionary and non-discretionary purchases — revealed that U.S. consumers shelled out $18 billion online, up 3% year over year.
Cyber Monday Likely to Break Records
The spending momentum is expected to continue into Cyber Monday, with Adobe projecting $14.2 billion in sales, up 6.3% year over year and on track to become the largest online shopping day of 2025, as quoted on the above-mentioned source.
Any Wall of Worry?
Despite higher spending, shoppers bought fewer items per order as rising prices weighed on demand. Discount levels remained flat from 2024, and higher product costs limited retailers’ ability to offer steeper promotions. Many shoppers expressed caution about overspending amid ongoing inflation, tariff uncertainty, and a soft labor market.
Artificial Intelligence ETFs in Focus
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few AI-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could be tapped now. These ETFs include iShares U.S. Technology ETF IYW, Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ, First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund FDN, iShares Future Exponential Technologies ETF XT and Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF BOTZ.
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First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN): ETF Research Reports iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW): ETF Research Reports Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ): ETF Research Reports iShares Future Exponential Technologies ETF (XT): ETF Research Reports Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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