AI will play an important role in Black Friday 2024

Our data suggests that Black Friday 2024 will be as successful as last year, with spending and participation on par with 2023, when a record number of consumers shopped. But a key difference this time round is the number who plan to use AI tools to help them shop.

More than 44% of Americans who say they’re likely to shop on Black Friday plan to use an AI shopping assistant. A further 48% will use a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT to obtain product information and inspiration. These consumers show a high level of trust in AI tools, with nearly 40% stating they trust them “completely”.

Millennials show the highest intent to use AI tools during Black Friday: 22% say they’re “very likely” to use an AI shopping assistant and 21% are “very likely” to use GenAI.

How will consumers use AI during Black Friday?

Price research is a key usage for AI during the November shopping holiday. More than 56% of AI users will leverage the technology to find the best prices. Nearly 5 in 10 consumers will also use it to get more information on the products they plan to purchase.

For shoppers who know what they want to buy but don’t know which brand or model to select, GenAI can help them identify the best product in a certain category (such as hairdryers). Nearly 40% of consumers using an AI tool will use it for this purpose.

Finally, with Christmas looming, 42% of Black Friday shoppers who plan to use AI will enlist it help them with gifting inspiration. These shoppers are most likely to want help with buying for friends (38%), followed by their children/step-children (35%) and parents/step-parents (29%). 

More Black Friday purchases will happen online this year

The high intent to use AI tools for Black Friday shopping is accompanied by an increased intent to purchase online. Of those who plan to shop on Black Friday, 26% say they will make purchases exclusively online, which is an increase of +6 percentage points compared with last year.

This trend is being driven by older shoppers: 30% of consumers aged over 40 plan to shop exclusively online versus 23% of those under 40. 

Walmart is the top Black Friday shopping destination

Walmart is the retailer Americans are most looking forward to shopping with during Black Friday (35% named Walmart in an open text question). 

Just in time for Black Friday, Walmart has launched new AI tools to help with holiday shopping. These include a GenAI search experience that allows customers to browse based on specific use cases (e.g. “What’s a good gift for a five-year-old boy?”).

Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus has also been made available to all US shoppers ahead of the holiday season. Amazon is the second-most popular retailer this Black Friday (33% are excited to shop with the retailer). Less popular, but still frequently named are Target (11%) and Best Buy (9%). 

Prime Days don’t cannibalize Black Friday sales

Finally, our research finds that other major shopping holidays such as Amazon’s Prime Day (July 16-17) and Prime Big Deal Days (Oct 8-9) don’t cannibalize Black Friday sales. In fact it’s the opposite; people who shop on those days show higher intent to purchase during Black Friday – and spend more money. 

• 98% of respondents who shopped on a Prime Day plan to purchase during Black Friday, and 35% will spend over $300.  
• Of respondents that did not shop on a Prime Day, a lesser 71% plan to purchase during Black Friday, and only 14% will spend over $300.  

Consumers who shop on Prime Days are more likely to believe in Black Friday: a third strongly agree it’s the best day to find heavily discounted products versus 19% of non-Prime Days shoppers.

Need more insight for the holiday season? Learn about running consumer research with Attest.