59% of shoppers plan to use AI this Black Friday, but just 7% will start their search there
• Finance
Over half of US shoppers (59%) plan to use AI this Black Friday, but only 7% will start their search there, according to an Omni Calculator survey of 899 US adults conducted in September 2026. That means that the overwhelming majority will still turn to traditional ways of shopping online, including Amazon and standard search engines. This Black Friday, with a forecasted spend of $275.1 billion, representing a 6.7% growth year-over-year, rather than a personal shopper, AI will be just an assistant.
Key takeaways
- 31% of all shoppers start their search on Amazon, followed by 29% on Google or Bing, and just 7% on an AI chatbot.
- Of the 531 consumers who want to use AI during their Black Friday shopping spree, only 12% will start by asking an AI chatbot.
- Shoppers plan to use AI to vet deals, not find them. AI users will use chatbots to compare prices across stores (42%) and verify discounts (31%), among other things.
- A "25% off" deal can be worth just 7% if the item's usual price was already lower—exactly the kind of check shoppers want AI for.
While 59% of shoppers plan to use AI this Black Friday, most will begin their shopping journey on traditional search engines or Amazon.
Where Black Friday searches begin
According to the survey, when starting their search for deals, consumers will most likely head to Amazon (31%) or Google/Bing (29%) first. Old habits hold: Amazon and search engines still own the first click. Some will turn to retailer apps (16%), but only 7% will use AI chatbots—putting this new way of shopping slightly ahead of physical stores (4%).
This landscape varies across demographics, as findings show that men are twice as likely as women to ask an AI chatbot before launching their own search (11% vs. 5%).
Even AI users don't start with AI
It would be logical to think that those who are more acquainted with AI will use it more often. However, the study reveals that, among the shoppers who declared that they would use an AI chatbot, only 12% will begin their journey there. The remaining pool of AI users will still start on Google/Bing (34%), Amazon (33%) or store sites and apps (14%).
Shoppers primarily plan to use AI for comparing prices and checking discounts, rather than making purchases.
Where AI actually fits in
AI will take more of a verifier role. AI users plan to turn to chatbots for comparing prices (42%), checking if a saving is real (31%), and gathering gift ideas (27%). Only 4% would let AI handle their shopping from start to finish.
Shoppers aren't looking for a personal shopper; they're looking for a skilled friend who can spot a fake deal. Take a jacket advertised as "originally $80, now $60." That's 25% off on paper, but according to the Federal Trade Commission, it would classify as deceptive pricing—if the jacket's median price over the past 90 days was $65, the real saving is just $5, or 7.7%, not the $20 the retailer promised.
Methodology
Based on a survey of 899 US adults fielded on Prolific on September 16, 2026, after screening out respondents who failed an attention check. The margin of error is approximately ±3.3 percentage points. Gender breakdowns (424 men, 463 women) exclude 12 respondents who selected "Other / Prefer not to say". Visit our official survey report for all findings and data tables.
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