Amazon’s AI chatbot Rufus drove sales on Black Friday

Summary

Amazon’s AI chatbot, Rufus, saw a surge of adoption on Black Friday, according to new data published over the weekend by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. In the U.S., Amazon sessions that resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared with the trailing 30 days, while sessions that resulted in a purchase and didn’t include Rufus increased by only 20%. In addition, Amazon saw a 75% day-over-day increase for sessions that included Rufus and resulted in a purchase, compared with just a 35% day-over-day increase for sessions without Rufus that had resulted in a purchase. The firm also noted that Amazon sessions that involved the AI chatbot outpaced total website sessions. On Black Friday, Amazon’s total website sessions increased by 20% day over day, while those that involved Rufus were up by 35%. Amazon’s AI chat was first launched into beta in early 2024 before rolling out to all U.S. customers later that year. Today, Rufus helps Amazon shoppers find products, get recommendations, and perform product comparisons. Rufus’ adoption to drive Black Friday sales is part of a broader surge in consumers turning to AI to help them with holiday shopping, data shows. Image Credits:Amazon According to e-commerce data from Adobe Analytics, which tracks more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites increased by 805% year-over-year on Black Friday. This indicates that consumers more heavily embraced generative AI chatbots to find deals and research products this year. The AI tools were mostly used for popular Black Friday deal categories like electronics, video games, appliances, toys, personal care items, and baby and toddler products. Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 Adobe Analytics also noted that the use of AI increased conversions. It found U.S. shoppers who came to a retail site from an AI service were 38% more likely to buy, compared with non-AI traffic sources. Whether AI directly contributed to the...