• RetailNext’s Black Friday data reveals an average of 5.3% year-over-year decrease in in-store foot traffic across Black Friday and Saturday.
• Adobe has noted that this year, AI is changing how consumers shop for holiday gifts, particularly during the current holiday season.
• Salesforce’s Joe Shasteen said that consumers are still willing to shop, they’re just demanding proof it’s worth leaving the house.

Shopping isn’t what it used to be. No, demand hasn’t evaporated, but retailers are feeling the strain as fewer customers make the trip to browse shelves in person. Instead, more Americans are staying home and filling online carts, helped along by ChatGPT and other AI chatbots now woven into many companies’ e-commerce systems.

Retailers this shopping season have partnered with the likes of OpenAI to offer a shopping experience different from last year and provide customers with the specific deals and discounts they are looking for, in an environment currently marked by price hikes resulting from tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.

According to Salesforce data, $14.2 billion in global online sales and $3 billion in U.S. online sales were driven by AI & agents on Black Friday, as more shoppers turned to AI chatbots for their shopping queries.

Holiday Traffic Fades

But foot traffic at stores declined sharply. According to RetailNext, the data shows an average 5.3% year-over-year decrease in in-store foot traffic across Black Friday and Saturday.

“Black Friday 2025 didn’t kill the holiday; it changed how shoppers approached it,” said Joe Shasteen, Global Head of Advanced Analytics at RetailNext. “Foot traffic was down 3.6% on Friday and 8.6% on Saturday, but that wasn’t disinterest, it was intention,” Shasteen added.

Adobe has noted that this year, AI is changing how consumers shop for holiday gifts, and traffic from AI sources to retail sites is expected to rise by a whopping 515% to 520% this season compared with the 2024 holidays.

Retailers And AI

Heading into Cyber Monday, retailers partnered with prominent AI applications such as ChatGPT to drive online traffic. Last week, JP Morgan noted that Amazon remains its “Best Idea,” driven by the e-commerce giant’s vast AI capabilities, such as personalized product recommendations and its spread-out delivery service.

OpenAI announced in mid-November that a new Target app in ChatGPT will launch in beta next week. The app aims to allow shoppers to ask for ideas, build multi-item baskets, and shop for fresh food. The app is designed to help users with curated ideas for blankets, candles, snacks, and more.

In late October, Walmart also introduced new AI-powered tools that make it easier for customers to find deals and locate products both in-store and online this holiday season. 

Shoppers Looking For Proofs To Leave Home

According to RetailNext, one of the clearest signals is the 3.6% drop on Black Friday, which was meaningfully better than the 6.2% decline seen from Sunday through Wednesday of last week.

Shasteen of RetailNext added that this data shows that even in a cautious year, shoppers are still willing to attend major promotional events but are simply being more selective about when those events are worth the trip.

“Consumers are still willing to shop, they’re just demanding proof it’s worth leaving the house,” Shasteen said.

Cyber Week Data So Far

Adobe Analytics data showed that American shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, a 9.1% increase from last year. Adobe had expected Black Friday to see higher growth this season, rising 8.3% to $11.7 billion.

While Salesforce data noted that Black Friday drove $79 billion in global sales, up 6% year-over-year, and saw a 3% jump in the U.S. to $18 billion compared to 2024.

Salesforce noted that although U.S. consumers spent more this Black Friday than last year, price increases hampered online demand. The company said that order volumes fell 1% year over year, while average selling prices increased 7%.

Overall, the National Retail Federation forecasts holiday spending between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion. Last year, holiday sales rose 4.3% to $976.1 billion compared to 2023. Adobe Analytics also expects consumers to shop for a record $1 trillion in the period from early November through the New Year’s, while consumers are expected to spend $253.4 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 through e-commerce, up 5.3% year over year.

Stocktwits Users’ Take On Retail

Retail user message count on Target jumped 40% in the last seven days following its earnings and the announcement of the ChatGPT partnership, while sentiment on Target remained in the ‘neutral’ territory.

The retail sentiment on Amazon remained unchanged in the ‘bearish’ territory, while sentiment on Walmart was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

Shares of Amazon have gained over 6% this year, Walmart stock has jumped 22% and Target shares have declined nearly 33% year-to-date.

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