Amazon's AI chatbot Rufus drove sales on Black Friday.

Amazon's AI chatbot Rufus saw a significant increase in usage during Black Friday, with the number of conversations that interacted with Rufus and ultimately led to a purchase rising by 75% compared to the previous period, while conversations that did not use the chatbot only increased by 35%. Overall, the total traffic on the Amazon website rose by 20% compared to the previous period, while the number of conversations interacting with Rufus grew by 35%. This reflects a broader trend, as a report from Adobe Analytics shows that AI traffic on U.S. retail websites increased by 805% year-on-year on Black Friday, and shoppers using AI were 38% more likely to make a purchase. However, despite the surge in AI usage, the overall growth in consumer spending may be more attributable to price increases rather than an increase in sales volume, as data from Salesforce indicates that average prices rose by 7% while order volumes fell by 1%.