Amazon’s AI shopping assistant, Rufus, saw a significant surge in adoption during Black Friday shopping. According to new data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Amazon sessions in the U.S. that resulted in a purchase and involved the Rufus chatbot increased by 100% compared to the trailing 30-day average. In contrast, sessions that resulted in a purchase without using Rufus increased by only 20%.
The data also shows a strong day-over-day increase for Rufus-assisted shopping on Black Friday itself. Sessions that included Rufus and led to a purchase rose 75% from the previous day, while sessions without Rufus that resulted in a purchase saw a 35% increase. Overall, website sessions involving the AI chatbot grew faster than total site traffic. Total Amazon website sessions increased 20% day over day on Black Friday, but sessions involving Rufus were up 35%.
Rufus was first launched in beta in early 2024 and later rolled out to all U.S. customers. The chatbot helps shoppers find products, get recommendations, and compare items. Its increased use for Black Friday deals is part of a broader consumer trend of turning to AI for holiday shopping. Data from Adobe Analytics, which tracks over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, found that AI-driven traffic to retail websites increased by 805% year-over-year on Black Friday. Shoppers heavily used generative AI chatbots to find deals and research popular categories like electronics, video games, appliances, toys, personal care, and baby products.
Adobe also noted that this AI traffic was more likely to convert into sales. U.S. shoppers who arrived at a retail site from an AI service were 38% more likely to make a purchase compared to those from non-AI traffic sources.
While Black Friday set an online spending record of $11.8 billion, it is unclear how much AI directly contributed to that figure. The record sum may be attributed to higher prices rather than an increase in shopping volume. Separate data from Salesforce indicated that prices were up an average of 7% this year, while order volumes were down 1%.
Sensor Tower’s data suggests consumers were more conservative with spending due to economic strains. Although mobile app and website use spiked on Black Friday compared to the prior month, gains in total visits and downloads slowed from 2024 levels. For example, Amazon’s mobile app downloads grew 24% on Black Friday compared to the previous 30 days, but that was less than the 50% surge seen in 2024. Website visits for Amazon and Walmart were up 90% and 100% this year, respectively, but also lower than their 2024 increases of 95% and 130%.
In a related survey, Adobe found that 48% of respondents have used or plan to use AI specifically for their holiday shopping.