Why Agentic Commerce is Replacing the Holiday Search Bar

December 23, 2025 | Seattle, WA

Why Agentic Commerce is Replacing the Holiday Search Bar

The traditional holiday window just received a major boardroom makeover. While headlines usually focus on foot traffic and festive ads, the real heat this Christmas is happening in the code. We have entered the era of Agentic Shopping. The search bar is officially a legacy tool. The AI agent is the new retail concierge.

The Intelligence: From Search to Summon

In 2025, we moved past basic chatbots. Leading brands like Nike and Sephora are no longer just using AI to answer simple questions. They are leveraging agentic systems that can autonomously bundle products, handle complex returns, and price match in real time. We are witnessing a shift from searching to summoning. Customers are telling AI agents exactly what they need and letting those tools find the best deal.

The Enterprise Hook: The $73 Billion Engine

The scale of this shift is staggering. According to the latest data from Salesforce, AI driven agents are on track to influence $73 billion in global sales during this holiday season alone. High performers like Ulta Beauty and Macy’s are using Salesforce Data Cloud and Adobe’s AI native stacks to power hyper personalized discovery.

The results are clear. Retailers who deployed branded agents on their sites saw sales growth outperform competitors by significant margins. In 2025, traffic from agentic AI sources converted up to eight times better than traffic from traditional social channels.

The Cultural Heat: The New Mall for Gen Z

For Gen Z, the mall is an algorithm. Roughly half of Gen Z shoppers now rely on AI curated social feeds and autonomous tools to find their holiday must haves. They are not looking for a simple discount. They are looking for affordable affluence. They want items that telegraph cultural relevance, and they want those items surfaced through a feed that knows their style better than they do.

The Strategy Note: Selling to the Algorithm

The bottom line is simple. In 2026, you are no longer just selling to humans. You are selling to the agents they deploy. If your product is not optimized for agentic discoverability, you do not exist in the new holiday ecosystem.

Record-Breaking Cyber Five: A Full Breakdown of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 in the US

December 3, 2025 | Seattle, WA

Generated by Google Gemini for Niftmint, 2025.

The 2025 Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend, often referred to as the "Cyber Five" (Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday), has officially wrapped up, setting new records for both consumer turnout and online spending in the US. Data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Adobe Analytics, and Salesforce paints a clear picture: consumers were highly engaged and actively seeking value, even amidst continued economic caution.

A Record-Setting Turnout

The sheer number of participants was staggering. According to the NRF, a record 202.9 million consumers shopped during the five-day period, surpassing the previous year’s 197 million shoppers. This strong turnout reflects a consumer base focused on responding to promotions to make the winter holidays special.

The growth was strong across the board, with 134.9 million consumers shopping online (a 9% increase from 2024) and 129.5 million shopping in-store (up 3% from 2024). While the digital space continues to dominate, the in-store experience is clearly still valued by millions.

Online Spending Hits New Heights

Digital sales were the star of the weekend, with both Black Friday and Cyber Monday setting individual records:

• Black Friday achieved a record $11.8 billion in US online sales, marking a 9.1% year-over-year increase, according to Adobe Analytics. While Salesforce reported a higher figure of $18 billion, they noted that inflation (with average selling prices climbing 7%) meant shoppers bought 2% fewer units per transaction.

• Cyber Monday solidified its title as the largest online shopping day of the year, driving an estimated $14.2 billion in revenue (a 6.3% annual rise).

• The entire Cyber Five period saw an estimated $43.7 billion in total online spending, representing a 6.3% growth over last year.

  
  

Key Consumer and Technology Trends

Several factors drove the shopping experience this year:

1. AI Takes Center Stage: The most dramatic shift was the integration of artificial intelligence into the shopping journey. Traffic from AI sources to US retail websites grew by over 800% compared to 2024. AI and shopping agents were incredibly effective, driving an estimated $3 billion in online sales, and shoppers who arrived from an AI service were 38% more likely to convert.

2. Demand for Financial Flexibility: The "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) option continues its upward trajectory. BNPL services were expected to drive more than $1 billion in online spending on Cyber Monday alone, demonstrating that consumers are prioritizing payment flexibility to manage their holiday budgets.

3. Value Over Volume: While discount rates remained generally flat compared to 2024, consumers were keen on finding the deepest price cuts. The highest discounts were typically found in categories like toys (with peak discounts around 30%), followed by electronics and apparel. The cautious spending environment means that consumers are treating the weekend as a search for true value, often planning purchases well in advance.

   

   Generated by Google Gemini for Niftmint, 2025.

   The 2025 Cyber Five weekend proved that despite economic uncertainty, the American consumer remains highly motivated to shop when offered compelling value. The record turnout and massive online sales confirm a successful kickoff to what the NRF predicts will be the first trillion-dollar holiday season.

The Black Friday Economy: A Financial History of the World's Biggest Sale

November 26, 2025 | Seattle, WA

Black Friday: To the modern consumer, it means doorbuster deals, overflowing online carts, and the official start of the holiday shopping spree. But the journey of this single day, from an originally critical term for police chaos to a multi-billion dollar economic indicator, is a story of shrewd marketing, retail strategy, and the unstoppable force of the internet.

I. The Negative Label: Chaos and the Police (1950s-1970s)

Before it was about profit, Black Friday was a day of pure misery for law enforcement in Philadelphia.

• The Original Name: The term "Black Friday" was coined by Philadelphia police officers in the 1950s and 60s. It was a negative descriptor for a day they absolutely dreaded working.

• The Cause: The day after Thanksgiving brought massive crowds of shoppers and football fans, causing gridlock, traffic jams, accidents, and a surge in crime.

• A Critical Term: For the police, the label was highly critical because it referred to a day of stressful, compulsory shifts and unmanageable disorder.

II. The Great Financial Rebranding (1980s)

The 1980s marked the turning point where retailers fought to shed the day's negative history and define it by its economic potential.

• The Myth is Born: Retailers successfully popularized the narrative that "Black Friday" was the day their accounting books finally moved from "in the red" (operating at a financial loss) to "in the black" (making a profit for the year). This powerful story replaced the police's critical narrative.

• Financial Impact: This rebranding transformed a day of perceived disorder into a symbol of financial success. Retailers heavily promoted the day with deep discounts, cementing it as the undisputed kickoff to the make-or-break holiday retail season.

III. The Golden Age of Bricks-and-Mortar (1990s and Early 2000s)

This era saw Black Friday reach its physical, high-stakes retail peak, driving consumer frenzy based on limited supply.

• The Spectacle: The decade was defined by doorbuster deals, scarcity, and urgency. Products like video game consoles and popular toys were limited-quantity "bait" designed to get customers inside.

• The Strategy: The primary economic goal was leveraging the fear of missing out (FOMO) to bring customers through the door, where they would inevitably buy other, higher-margin items not on deep discount.

• Economic Clout: Black Friday became consistently named the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S., serving as a vital measure of consumer confidence for the broader economy.

  
  

IV. The Digital Awakening and Cyber Monday (2005)

The advent of the internet forced a shift, creating a complementary, non-physical shopping event.

• The Problem: Consumers were returning to their workplace on Monday and using faster office internet connections to continue their shopping online.

• The Solution: In 2005, the term "Cyber Monday" was coined by the National Retail Federation (NRF) to formally encourage online shopping on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

• The Shift: This creation marked the first official decoupling of the shopping rush from the physical store, laying the groundwork for digital dominance.

V. The Blurring of the Lines (2010s to Today)

Modern Black Friday is less about one day and more about an extended sales season dominated by e-commerce.

• The "Cyber Five": The entire five-day period, from Thanksgiving Thursday through Cyber Monday, became known as the "Cyber Five," a single economic unit where online sales rapidly overtook brick-and-mortar traffic.

• Online Dominance: Cyber Monday now routinely surpasses Black Friday in total sales, and Black Friday's own sales are largely conducted online. The emphasis has shifted from scarcity to convenience.

• Black November: Retailers have stretched the sales window into "Black November" or "Deals for Days." This strategy dilutes the traditional single-day frenzy, maximizing the total selling window and smoothing out logistics.

VI. Black Friday by the Numbers: The Global Retail Powerhouse

The story of Black Friday's transformation is best told through its monumental sales figures, which demonstrate consumer resilience and the total dominance of e-commerce.

In 2024, U.S. online spending on Black Friday officially crossed the $10 billion mark for the first time, hitting a final total of $10.8 billion, a substantial increase of 10.2% over the prior year. This rapid growth confirmed that despite economic pressures, consumers were still highly motivated to spend when major discounts were offered.

The entire "Cyber Five" weekend (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) accounted for a record $41.1 billion in U.S. online sales. Cyber Monday maintained its lead as the largest single online shopping day, generating $13.3 billion in U.S. sales. Furthermore, the mobile shift was undeniable, as mobile devices accounted for over 54% of all online sales during the period.

Looking Ahead to 2025: Analysts, including the National Retail Federation (NRF), are forecasting another year of solid growth, predicting that total holiday sales (November-December) will grow between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024. For the first time, the NRF expects total holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion. This projected growth is dependent on consumers prioritizing value and continuing to use flexible payment options like "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL), which saw record usage in 2024.

The Black Friday we experience today is a testament to retail evolution, a financially crucial event that successfully transformed its original, negative name into a global symbol of consumer savings and a critical barometer of the world economy.