Marketing

Help With Holiday Shopping: How AI Is Assisting At Every Seasonal Step

Mark McCormick

November 26, 2025

Trying to keep up with the breakneck speed of AI adoption and proliferation should be considered a work-hazard at this point.

Just start with the Adobe study from a few months ago that found that online consumers were putting up a 4,700% YoY increase in genAI-sourced traffic in July and were expected to show a further 520% YoY increase this upcoming holiday season.

A new report from First Insight says the percentage of consumers expected to use AI for holiday shopping is 39%, with more than two-thirds (68%) of those AI users willing to make purchases via AI, solidifying the tool as “a shopping assistant and checkout destination.”

(Considering how crazy those early-morning Black Friday crowds used to be, moving at breakneck speed actually doesn’t sound that hazardous after all.)

(Source: First Insight)

“For many shoppers this holiday season, AI will work as a personal assistant, delivering tailored product recommendations and finding sales and promotions,” says the press release for the 2025 Holiday Shopping Report, “which is especially important as many consumers approach their shopping with a stronger focus on budgeting.”

Gen Z was the generation most willing to make purchases, ahead of Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, respectively. For those not willing to make purchases via AI, the main reasons were:

Security concerns
Not comfortable with AI
“Preference for maintaining personal control over purchase decisions”
Desire for more personal experience

“This holiday season marks the moment AI truly enters the shopping aisle,” says First Insight CEO Greg Petro. “Consumers aren’t just using it to search — they’re buying through it. At the same time, they’re more cautious about spending, focusing on price, value and convenience. Retailers that listen to their customers and adapt quickly to these new buying behaviors will be the ones building loyalty that lasts long after the holidays.”

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