By Sonal Gandhi
Chief Content Officer at The Lead
This week’s news, Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales are performed strongly, exceeding expectations despite generally low consumer sentiment. Instead of relying on significant markdowns, brands have successfully implemented new sales-driving strategies. Additionally, AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming increasingly influential in the consumer journey, from product discovery to final conversion.
Over 202M consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, per the National Retail Federation, an all-time high. Online sales on both Cyber Monday and Cyber Week grew 7% vs last year, per Adobe Analytics. Apparel and jewelry were the top Black Friday gift sectors, per Mastercard SpendingPulse.
Despite an all-time low in consumer sentiment leading up to retail’s peak shopping event, brands successfully engaged cash-strapped shoppers. They achieved this through a strategy focused on targeted discounts, new product launches, and strong storytelling, rather than relying on a “race-to-the-bottom” approach to pricing. This new playbook appears to have paid off: Black Friday retail sales in the US grew by 4 percent year-over-year, an increase from 3 percent in 2024. (Business of Fashion)
The shift from “Black Friday” to “Black November” means shoppers now have weeks to compare deals and demand value amidst continuous price hikes. This makes the lead-up to Black Friday vital, as brands must focus on refining their value proposition, investing in effective brand marketing to stand out, and identifying media placements that move the needle in an AI-influenced shopping landscape, rather than relying on a single-day doorbuster deal and mass advertising. (Modern Retail)
This holiday season, consumers are increasingly turning to AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini for gift and deal ideas. Profound, a marketing platform, analyzed this shift with its Black Friday Index, tracking the brands most visible in shopping-related ChatGPT prompts.In shoes, Adidas led with 50.2%, followed by Walmart (35.6%), Nike (35.3%), and Skechers (26%). Prompts related to the beauty category, for example, surfaced a ton of mentions for Ulta and Sephora — but there was a wide delta between the two. Ulta showed up in 85.9% of relevant results, while Sephora showed up in 45% of answers. (Modern Retail)
Furniture company Ashley announced a new capability: shoppers can now buy products directly through the AI-powered search engine Perplexity and pay using PayPal. This integration allows customers to complete the entire shopping journey—from requesting product recommendations and viewing curated options to adding items to their cart and finalizing the payment—all within a single, continuous conversation. (Retail Dive)
Vingino Group (children’s fashion brand) was acquired by Centric Brands.
Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan acquired US fragrance manufacturer Belle Aire Creations.
Republic Brands Group acquired a portfolio of fashion brands including Joie, Equipment, and Current/Elliott from Sunrise Brands.
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