Black Friday 2025 set new records: $11.8 billion spent online, a huge surge in AI-driven shopping traffic, and more consumers skipping stores altogether. While the big headlines focused on national spending, the real question is: How did your Black Friday ads perform?
Did your campaigns ride the wave of record-breaking traffic… or did they get lost in the noise?
This breakdown will show you what actually happened across the industry and how to compare your own numbers so you can make smarter decisions heading into the rest of the holiday season and Q1.
What the Data Says About Black Friday 2025
Online Spending Hit an All-Time High
Shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday alone — up 9.1% from last year. Cyber Week overall followed the same pattern, bringing in strong online numbers while in-store shopping lagged.
For small businesses, this shift matters: your online presence and ads matters more this year than ever, and this will only continue to be the case moving forward.
Fewer Items Bought, Higher Prices Paid
While total sales went up, the number of items per order actually went down. But thanks to inflation and strategic buying, average selling prices increased nearly 7% across the board.
What this means: consumers weren’t impulse-buying but they were instead choosing carefully, spending on select items that felt valuable, useful, or high-quality.
AI-Driven Traffic Exploded
AI-powered shopping tools, recommendations, and search drove a massive traffic boost this year — with some reports showing an 805% year-over-year increase in AI-referred visits.
If your product names, SEO, or ad messaging weren’t aligned with how AI tools surface recommendations, you may have missed a big chunk of ready-to-buy shoppers. Yes, even local businesses need to be optimized for AI searches.
In-Store Traffic Declined… Again
Store visits dropped by 3.6% compared to 2024, continuing the multi-year trend of holiday shoppers avoiding the crowds and shopping from their couch.
Small businesses with strong digital funnels — ads → landing page → checkout → follow-up — had a major advantage. Also, businesses who are pros at Community Marketing tended to do better than those who did not.
Shoppers Are More Intentional Than Ever
Multiple retail reports describe 2025 holiday shoppers as using “surgical precision.”
Instead of browsing broadly, people:
- compared deals closely
- waited for exact discounts
- prioritized value over volume
- bought fewer items but spent more per purchase
This puts pressure on your messaging, offers, and creative to communicate value clearly and quickly.
So… How Did Your Ads Compare?
This is where things get interesting.
With record online sales, higher average order values, and more shoppers searching digitally, the opportunity for Black Friday ad success was there but did your ads capture it?
Here’s what you should be reviewing:
1. Did your traffic increase?
You should have seen some lift in impressions or clicks simply from the market surge. If you didn’t, that’s a red flag for targeting or creative.
2. How did your CTR compare?
Higher CPCs (cost per click) and increased competition meant creative had to work harder.
If your CTR (click through rate) dropped or stayed stagnant, your messaging may not have cut through.
3. What happened to your cost per purchase or lead?
If your costs spiked without a clear reason, you may have:
- targeted too broadly
- relied too much on discounts
- used ad formats that underperformed this year
- missed retargeting opportunities
4. Did your landing pages convert?
Holiday traffic is impatient. A high bounce rate or high drop-off at checkout tells you the ad worked but the page didn’t.
5. Did you capture any new audiences for Q1?
Black Friday traffic is a goldmine for:
- retargeting
- email list growth
- warmer January/February campaigns
If you didn’t capture anything for future use, you left a lot of potential on the table.
Need an Outside Eye? I’m Opening a Few Quick Consult Slots.
This is a great moment to look at your numbers. A short ad audit can help you understand the story behind your Black Friday ad performance and give you clear next steps to boost your results for the rest of the holiday season and set up a stronger Q1.
If you want help breaking down your Black Friday–Cyber Monday results, I’m opening a handful of quick consult sessions to walk through:
- your ad performance
- your funnel
- where your strategy aligned (or didn’t) with national patterns
- your biggest opportunities for improvement
- a simple plan for December + Q1
If you ran ads this holiday season, this 30-minute session will tell you exactly where you stand and what your next move should be.
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