The dust has settled on Black Friday / Cyber Week, and the results for our clients tell a powerful story. This year, success was all about precision, technical readiness, and meeting customers exactly where they were.
Here are some highlights we saw from this year’s peak season:
- Precise Paid Search was huge. One brand saw a 59% increase in Google Ads revenue and an 11% increase in clicks, all while boosting their Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by 14%.
- Leveraging new channels = not leaving money on the table. Another brand leveraged Meta ads for Black Friday for the first time ever. The result? Over $500,000 in revenue from that single new channel.
- By focusing on pushing the right experiences to the right people, another client saw their Click-Through Rates (CTR) double compared to previous years.
These wins didn’t happen by accident. They happened because these brands aligned their strategies with the massive shifts in buyer behavior that we see across the industry.
Cyber Week 2025 Highlights:
- AI is the New Traffic Driver: There was a staggering +805% YoY growth in AI-driven traffic.
- Mobile is King: 80% of purchasing was driven through mobile devices. (To put this in perspective: Mobile took 12–15 years to reach peak adoption; AI took just 2 months).
- The Agentic Shift: Cyber Week drove $336B in sales, with $67B directly influenced by AI agents.
- Intentionality Wins: Shoppers were more focused than ever, with “intentional spending” up 4.5% (driving an average order value of $117.93).
So what does this mean for 2026? To start, the brands that won this holiday season were the ones that optimized for mobile, leveraged AI for targeting, and respected the customer’s intent. As we move into the new year, the gap between “traditional” ecommerce strategies and “AI-native” strategies will only widen.
If you are looking to leverage these strategies, whether that means technically optimizing your site for AI agents or refining your marketing to capture intentional spend, now is the time to start planning.
Partner Spotlight: Athos (Klevu) – The AI That Powers Site Search
This month, we are spotlighting formerly Klevu, (now Athos Commerce), the AI-powered product discovery suite that ensures your on-site search is as smart as the customers using it.
Users are trained by Google to expect instant, highly relevant answers. If they finally click through to your site and can’t find what they want immediately, they bounce. Athos solves this by using advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand intent, not just keywords.
Whether it’s self-learning search bars, smart category merchandising, or personalized recommendations, Athos ensures that the traffic you fought so hard to acquire actually converts. It’s the essential tool for keeping the “instant answer” experience alive once a shopper lands on your store.