Top Headlines
BFCM 2025 setting records
Lots of new records coming out of the BFCM spend data:
- CNBC reports that 202.9 million shoppers shopped during the 5-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, up from the previous high of 200.4 million in 2023.
- Forbes reports that shoppers spent $11.8B on Black Friday with buy-now-pay-later usage up 8.9% YoY.
- Shopify reports that its merchants generated a record $14.6 billion in sales over BFCM, up 24% from last year adjusting for inflation - showing continued e-commerce growth.
- Plus, generative AI is reshaping the shopping journey: AI-driven traffic to retail sites was projected to rise 600%, but Adobe reported it rose over 800% (in the Forbes article).
But regardless of whether your brand broke its own records or fell short of prior years, as Black Friday becomes less of a one-day event and into a whole holiday shopping season, it’s important to keep driving forward. Keep delivering great experiences for new and returning customers and gather data from this year to give you material to analyze and ideas for what to improve in 2026.
Unclear discounts hinder the Black Friday experience
Experts are noting that some retailers obscured promotions which led to confusing experiences for consumers.
First, some good data - average discounts rates peaked at 28% in the U.S. and 27% globally on Black Friday, but this was flat compared to last year. Average selling prices were 7% higher than on Black Friday last year. That means the 9% jump reported in the prior story could be actual growth - a welcome sign given the economic outlook.
Now for some anecdotes that speak to the theme of the article, with me first. I ordered multiple gifts for different people on Etsy on Cyber Monday, which I placed on multiple transactions. Only after I checked out of the first one did I see a blanket 20% off discount code in a skinny green bar at the top of the website (and it was the most expensive gift, too, of course). The discount code didn’t auto-apply. What should have been a customer experience perk left me feeling silly that I missed out for the first one especially for something that should have been wide reaching. Fortunately, the missed discount was only a few bucks and I was supporting a local artist with my purchase, so I’m not going to stress - but if I did reach out to start a customer support conversation to retroactively get the discount, it would cost the brand a lot more in operational costs.
Another colleague in the office mentioned price watching multiple things and waiting for Cyber Monday only to discover the prices were the same come Cyber Monday. Way to erode trust with the customer who was excited to purchase!
The lesson: if you’re going to offer discounts, make it easy and clear and above all else, real!
Amazon launches 30-minute deliveries in 2 cities
Amazon is piloting 30-minute deliveries in Seattle and Philadelphia, offering thousands of essentials and fresh groceries in minutes. Pricing starts at $13.99 or $3.99 for Prime members. Powered by micro-fulfillment centers and the new Amazon Now experience, customers can access ultra-fast delivery, track orders, and shop seamlessly within the Amazon app.
It shows a response to changing consumer demands around fulfillment time, and CX leaders will have to find ways to keep up with the titans in the space.
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AI News
- OpenAI’s Sam Altman calls a “code red” as the AI race heats up: The company will be shifting focus back to its core ChatGPT product to better compete with other large language models and help raise the $100 billion needed to cover its cash burn.
- Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public: Anthropic, valued potentially over $300 billion, has reportedly hired the same law firm as Google and Lyft for a planned IPO as early as 2026, aiming to beat rival OpenAI, which is also working on a listing and was recently valued at $500 billion.
- NVIDIA and Synopsys Announce Strategic Partnership to Revolutionize Engineering and Design: NVIDIA invested $2B into Synopsys common stock to accelerate computing and agentic and physical AI.
- Automation in e-commerce logistics cools after rapid growth. The robotics market grew from $24.93 billion in 2024 to $34.04 billion in 2025, but is cooling as we enter 2026. This reset shifts focus to proven, scalable solutions—boosting resilience, refining robotics strategies, and preparing teams for next-generation last-mile automation.
- Announcing the newest members of the Kustomer AI Assistant family: The AI automation assistant and the AI observability assistant provide deeper clarity, safer scale, and productivity gains across the entire CX operation.
