Cyber Monday Breaks Record 🤑.

From records shattered to carts full, it was quite a week. BCFM lived up to its name 🙌.

Hi there, and welcome to another issue of The Ecom Press 🗞️!

From Shopify’s $6.2B Black Friday haul to Walmart quietly testing ads in Sparky, its AI shopping sidekick, this week was anything but boring 🚀. And with 2026 peeking around the corner, we’ve rounded up some bold, not-so-predictable strategies to help you gear up ⚙️.

Let’s get into it 🧨.

In a rush? Here's the juice🤭:

🤑 Cyber Monday becomes biggest online sales day ever.

🔥 Black Friday sales hit an all time high.

🤖 Walmart tests ads inside its AI shopping assistant.

🚀 Ecom strategies: What to do differently in 2026 🧠

⚡️Worthy Mentions

🤑 Cyber Monday becomes biggest online sales day ever.

Cyber Monday 2025 has broken all previous records, becoming the largest online shopping day ever in the U.S. Consumers spent a total of $14.25 billion, with momentum driven by mobile purchases, steep discounts, and flexible payment options like BNPL. 

The surge capped a strong Cyber Week, which generated $44.2 billion in total U.S. online sales.

Here are the deets ⬇️: 

📱 Mobile leads the charge: Mobile accounted for 57.5% of Cyber Monday purchases, totaling $8.2B, up 8% YoY. Thanksgiving hit an even higher 61.6%, showing how smartphones have become the dominant checkout lane.

💳 BNPL tops $1B: Buy Now, Pay Later drove $1.03B in Cyber Monday spend (+4.2% YoY). 80% of these orders happened on mobile, with total seasonal BNPL spending now at $10.1B.

🎧 Electronics and home gear spiked: Top demand jumps included Bluetooth speakers (+1,850%), consoles (+1,800%), and smart home products (+1,450%). Electronics alone hit $3.7B in spend (+12.8%).

📢 Social commerce is rising: Social media drove 3.6% of Cyber Monday sales, up 56.5% YoY. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube played a key role, with influencers generating over 21% of social-driven revenue.

🧾 Discounts fuelled momentum: Aggressive discounts were widespread: electronics (31%), toys (28%), clothing (25%), and more. Adobe notes many deals will persist through early December.

Why it matters 🤷‍♂️

This year’s Cyber Monday revealed that ecommerce growth now depends less on novelty and more on execution. Mobile, payments, and content distribution are becoming the core levers. 

🔥 Black Friday sales hit an all time high.

Despite low consumer confidence and inflation pressures, U.S. shoppers broke records this Black Friday with $11.8 billion spent online, according to Adobe Analytics. 

The strong showing, driven heavily by AI-assisted shopping and alternative payment options, signals a major shift in how shoppers approach the holiday season.

Here’s the lowdown ⬇️:

🛒 Online sales hit new highs: Shoppers spent $11.8B online, up from $10.8B last year. Between 10am–2pm, spending peaked at $12.5M per minute.

📈 Shopify hits $14.6B in BFCM sales: Shopify merchants saw a 27% YoY increase, with 94,900+ hitting record sales. Beauty, fitness, and fashion led the way, with top brands like Skims, Merit, and Alo. The average cart hit $114.70.

🤖 AI drove massive traffic surges: AI-generated traffic to retail sites rose 805% YoY, according to Adobe. Salesforce said AI influenced $22B in global sales over Thanksgiving weekend.

💳 BNPL usage jumped nearly 9%: U.S. shoppers spent $747.5M via Buy Now Pay Later, with Adobe expecting it to top $1B by Cyber Week's end. Research links BNPL to increased overdraft, interest, and late fees.

🏬 In-store results mixed: RetailNext reports a 3.4% drop in foot traffic, but Pass_by shows overall increases, especially in department stores (+7.9%).

Why it matters 🤔

This Black Friday wasn’t just big; it was smarter. AI is now deeply shaping how people discover and act on deals, compressing the buyer journey into fewer clicks. But shoppers are also stretching budgets with tools like BNPL, which raise conversion now but may strain wallets later. For merchants, the data suggests opportunity and caution: invest in tech, but know your customer’s limit.

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🤖 Walmart tests ads inside its AI shopping assistant.

Walmart is testing a new ad format called Sponsored Prompt inside Sparky, its AI shopping agent. The format introduces click-to-buy ads directly into chat conversations, marking a potential shift in how retail media is delivered through AI.

Here’s the scoop 🍨:

💬 Sponsored Prompts in testing: Walmart piloted Sponsored Prompts from September to early November, offering clickable prompts within Sparky that deliver a tailored reply followed by a product ad. While initial engagement was limited, it signals a serious push to embed advertising within chat interfaces.

📱 Sparky offers AI-guided shopping: Launched in June 2025, Sparky helps users compare items, summarize reviews, and get tailored suggestions. It's available inside the Walmart app and will soon integrate with ChatGPT, allowing U.S. users to shop Walmart via OpenAI’s assistant.

📊 Walmart’s retail media play: Walmart is investing heavily in high-margin ad products as grocery, its core revenue driver, remains low-margin. Sponsored Prompts are part of this broader push to unlock revenue from AI-guided commerce.

⚔️ Amazon sets the pace: Amazon’s assistant Rufus already uses Sponsored Prompts. CEO Andy Jassy says shoppers using Rufus are 60% more likely to buy, and expects it to add $10B+ in annual sales.

Why it matters 🤨

As AI tools shift from novelty to utility, retailers aren’t just automating help but we’re seeing them monetize it. We’ll certainly have a future where every product recommendation could carry a price tag for brands. 

🛎️ The Ecom Press Insider

Ecom Fact: Shopify merchants hit $14.6 billion in sales over BFCM weekend, up 27% from last year. At peak, the platform processed $5.1M per minute. But on Cyber Monday, a multi-hour outage left many without access to their dashboards (Shopify).

💡 Takeaway: Sales surges are great until systems stall. Have backup processes for tracking orders and updating customers when your main tools go down.

🚀 Ecom strategies: What to do differently in 2026 🧠

AI, algorithm shifts, platform outages, social shakeups — 2025 didn’t play it safe, and neither should you. As ecommerce gets more automated, here are five high-leverage strategies to put into play before Q1 kicks off.

 📦 Build an Inventory-Independent Offer: Test one digital or service-based product that doesn't rely on shipping or supply chain. Whether it's a paid community, virtual styling, or exclusive content — it builds margin and flexibility into your business.

📲 Turn Your Mobile Checkout Into a Mini Funnel: Mobile isn't just the dominant channel, it’s impulsive. Add post-checkout upgrades, SMS-based loyalty nudges, and tap-to-save deals directly after the buy button to double down on shopper momentum.

🧠 Make AI Work for Ops, Not Just Content: Everyone’s using AI to write emails. Few are using it to train SOPs, automate returns, build onboarding flows, or analyze customer complaints at scale. Operational AI is where the margin lies.

🧾 Run A Profitability Sprint, Not a Sale: Instead of more discounts, take one week to optimize upsells, bundles, email recovery, and fulfillment costs. Document it. Repeat quarterly. You’ll protect profit while everyone else chases volume.

🤝 Borrow a Niche Audience Through Micro-Collabs: Partner with a niche brand that shares values but not products. Co-create a mini gift guide, live tutorial, or limited product drop. It builds brand equity fast, without fighting algorithm reach.

⚡️Worthy Mentions

• Amazon now service offers groceries and essentials in half an hour.

• Tom Ford adds AR virtual try-on for sunglass shoppers.

• Amazon's chatbot Rufus significantly lifted holiday weekend sales.

• NRF reports 202.9 million shoppers during Thanksgiving weekend.

• Onton secures $7.5M to grow AI-powered shopping platform.

Wrapping up…

A wild week of wins, outages, and record-breaking carts. If you caught the deals — or the dollars — we hope your dashboards were kind to you 🚀.

2026 is coming in hot. Got a bold move you’re planning? A new product line, a risky pivot, a fresh AI play? Whatever it is, now’s the time to test while the energy’s high 🔥.

See you in the next one. If you haven’t yet, hit that subscribe button, and of course, bring a friend.