Bluecore Reports AI Research Surged During Black Friday Weekend

NEW YORK – Bluecore has released its 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) shopping data, revealing that while Black Friday drove the highest shopper intent, Saturday saw the most research activity. The company’s findings suggest that shoppers increasingly used AI tools to compare options and gather product details before completing purchases.

The analysis, based on 1 million conversations through Bluecore’s AI shopping agent alby, along with 27 million e-commerce interactions, 1.95 billion shopper events, 3.7 million orders, and $531 million in total sales across 144 retail brands, found that freeform shopper questions increased 57% from the mid-week baseline. This indicates that AI-assisted research is becoming an integral part of buying decisions during major retail events.

“The numbers don’t lie, as this Black Friday proved that AI has become the new sales floor expert,” said Fayez Mohamood, CEO of Bluecore. “Shoppers aren’t just browsing websites anymore; they’re actively researching products and asking detailed questions about everything from assembly requirements to waterproof ratings. Shoppers are no longer willing to buy blind, and are requiring AI-powered confidence at their fingertips before they purchase.”

Key Findings

• Black Friday Drove a 50% Surge in AI-Powered Shopping Assistance
  
  Shopper engagement with AI tools rose by 50% compared to the mid-week average. Question widget views increased from approximately 1.6 million to 2.4 million on Black Friday, while freeform messages grew 57% to 32,600.

• AI Supported High-Stakes Purchases Across Categories
  
  During BFCM, shoppers used AI to clarify key pre-purchase details: furniture buyers asked about assembly and weight capacity, sporting goods customers verified skill level matching, and parents confirmed safety certifications before completing purchases.

• Saturday Surpassed Black Friday for Research Activity
  
  On Saturday, November 29, shoppers asked 278,911 questions—the highest of the weekend—compared to 254,781 on Black Friday. This suggests shoppers devoted more time to research and comparison before making purchase decisions.

• Weekend Engagement Stayed Consistently High
  
  Shopping engagement remained steady across the full BFCM weekend, with nearly identical totals on Black Friday and Saturday (both about 2.4 million). This trend shows the shopping period has evolved into a multi-day research and buying event.

• Sports and Hobbies Category Recorded the Largest AOV Growth
  
  Sports and hobbies retailers saw the highest year-over-year average order value (AOV) increase during Black Friday, rising 75.41%. The data reflects shoppers making deliberate purchases within this category.

Methodology

Bluecore analyzed 2025 BFCM activity based on data from 22.5 million first-party cookies, 1.95 billion shopper events, 3.7 million orders, and $531 million in total sales across 144 retail brands. Of these, 59 were enterprise-level brands with at least 250,000 unique customers on Black Friday, and 85 were mid-market retailers. The dataset included over 1 million AI-driven questions across 1.27 million e-commerce interactions during November 2025.

About Bluecore and alby

Bluecore’s suite of retail marketing technology creates personalized shopping experiences across all consumer-facing digital channels—transforming anonymous shoppers into known customers along the way.

With its AI shopping agent alby, Bluecore enables retailers—from enterprise to SMB—to predict and answer shoppers’ questions, increasing their likelihood of purchase. alby integrates directly into retailers’ product catalogs, anticipates shopper intent, and supports buying decisions. It also provides retailers with new behavioral data, helping personalize future interactions across every channel. More than 400 retailers, including Wayfair, Tapestry, Express, Lenovo, and Alo Yoga, use Bluecore to drive profitable growth. For more information, visit www.bluecore.com.