Black Friday stories

Constructor rides AI retail search boom with 82% customer growth, 116% EMEA revenue jump and 322bn annual product discovery interactions.

Sharp swings in online peak spending and 64% checkout abandonment risk derailing retailers' forecasts and promo plans for 2026.

UK retail sales jumped in January as online spending saw its fastest annual rise since 2021, signalling a more resilient consumer mood.

Holiday refunds jumped 18.1% in 2025, with each USD $1 million in refunds costing retailers about USD $1.3 million once overheads are included.

UK online parcels jumped 17% in late 2025 as pet care and beauty surged, even as fashion and homewares shipments slid, Scurri data shows.

Scurri processes 180m shipments in 2025 as eCommerce GMV hits EUR €19.2bn and its platform annualises at over 200m parcels into 2026.

UK shoppers spent a record GBP £26.9bn online over Christmas 2025, as mobile purchases surged and AI-driven referrals leapt from 2024.

Microsoft again tops global phishing brand list as attackers increasingly mimic big tech services to steal cloud and consumer credentials.

Chargebacks surge after record online holiday sales, with USD $181 billion in returns putting retailers' first-quarter profits at risk.

Klaviyo forecasts 2026 surge in AI voice shopping, automated returns and connected-device purchases reshaping how consumers buy.

Adobe says generative AI referrals to retailers jumped nearly 700% over the 2025 holidays, driving longer visits and stronger conversions.

Facewatch says UK retailers' facial recognition alerts more than doubled to over 500,000 in 2025 amid rising theft and abuse in stores.

Fulfilmentcrowd posts record global peak-day growth as EU orders jump 28% on Cyber Monday and US volumes soar up to 80% on Black Friday.

Criteo says agentic AI will add a powerful new eCommerce layer, reshaping search, retail assistants and LLM ad models without replacing shops.

Blue Yonder rolls out fresh AI tools to tighten retail planning, boost fulfilment accuracy and speed up warehouse and logistics decisions.

Retailers urged to brace for early-year spike in chargebacks as mobile shopping and buy now, pay later fuel record US holiday spend.

Black Friday still delivered the peak online surge, but AI-driven search stretched shopping demand across a longer November window.

Black Friday splurge triggers record December returns surge as ReBound warns rapid send-backs are straining retailers' peak operations.

AI agents, circular retail and tighter rules will upend shopping by 2026, Akeneo warns, as poor product data threatens brand visibility.

Cyber Monday online orders in the UK surged, running about 70% higher than Black Friday as shoppers held out for last-minute deals.