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U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online during Black Friday (Nov. 28), the annual shopping event held the day after Thanksgiving, according to Reuters. Per the outlet, Adobe Analytics reported a 9.1% jump in sales from 2024, driven in part by the rise of AI-powered shopping tools. This year, shoppers increasingly skipped crowded stores and instead used chatbots to compare prices and find discounts. Adobe Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion online retail visits, found that AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites surged 805% from last year, which was before tools like Walmart’s Sparky and Amazon’s Rufus had launched. “Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster,” said eMarketer analyst Suzy Davidkhanian, per Reuters. “Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided.” LEGO sets, Pokémon cards, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 consoles, Apple AirPods, and KitchenAid mixers were among the...