More Than Half of Consumers Plan to use AI for Holiday Shopping, and Consumers Demand Personalized Discounts

Klaviyo (NYSE: KVYO), the only CRM built for consumer brands, today released its 2025 Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) Forecast, a global study of 7,000 consumers offering key insights into this year’s holiday shopping season. The findings show that AI is becoming central to how people shop and that holiday shopping is no longer confined to BFCM, but spread across a longer, more dynamic calendar.

Holiday shopping used to be driven by the FOMO of BFCM with flashy deals and big discounts, but this is all changing. BFCM is still the biggest moment of the year for brands, but it’s no longer the only one that matters. To win, brands need to look beyond peak season and use AI to personalize every touchpoint in the customer journey, building loyalty that lasts all year long. Highlights from the survey include:

• More than half of consumers plan to use AI to compare prices, search for products, and get personalized recommendations for BFCM this year
• Christmas, Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain the three most popular holidays to purchase items, but Mother’s Day and Prime Day are now in 4th and 5th place respectively
• Consumers want brands to offer deals or discounts on the products they have already browsed multiple times

“BFCM is still the finale, but the journey starts months earlier and it’s more personalized and data-driven than ever,” said Jake Cohen, Head of Industry & Insights at Klaviyo. “Our data shows that consumers aren’t just shopping earlier, they're shopping smarter. They expect brands to meet them with timely offers, personalized recommendations, and seamless experiences no matter the month or channel.”

Key findings from the report include:

Consumers are increasingly using AI tools to help them shop

• 54% of consumers plan to use AI this holiday season for comparing prices, searching for products, summarizing reviews, and receiving tailored recommendations. 62% say they’d rather use an AI tool that knows their purchase history than explain their needs to a sales associate. Millennial shoppers are the most enthusiastic about AI remembering their preferences, with 66% in favor – more than any other generational cohort.

While BFCM still drives the most sales, other holidays are gaining momentum

• Mother’s Day now ranks as the fourth-biggest sales event of the year after Christmas, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime Day takes fifth place as consumers increasingly take advantage of mid-year deals and brands capitalize on shopping periods beyond November.

Summer is the new kickoff to holiday shopping

• BFCM still reigns supreme with 40% planning to shop during the weekend, but the holiday shopping season now starts much earlier with 20% of consumers making their first holiday purchase between June and August. Gen Z is leading the early shopping trend, with 30% starting before traditional sales, and more than a third (36%) say they don’t time their shopping around any specific event at all.

Personalized deals drive holiday purchases even in a tough economy

• While more than three quarters of consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season, inflation is shaping how they shop: 81% say it’s influencing their behavior. But personalized offers cut through the noise with the most effective approach being a discount or deal on an item a shopper has browsed multiple times or saved for later.

“BFCM is undoubtedly a key moment, not just for Rebecca Minkoff and Donald Pliner, but for any brand," said Jonathan Guez, Chief Technology Officer at Sunrise Brands. "Still, it’s the consistent, meaningful interactions we cultivate throughout the year that truly drive long-term success. This BFCM, AI-powered features like Klaviyo’s Channel Affinity will be essential in delivering seamless, cross-channel experiences, engaging customers where they are, when it matters most and without overwhelming them with messages.”

About Klaviyo

Klaviyo (NYSE: KVYO) is the only CRM built for B2C brands. Powered by its built-in data platform and AI insights, Klaviyo combines marketing automation, analytics, and customer service into one unified solution, making it easy for businesses to know their customers and grow faster. Klaviyo (CLAY-vee-oh) helps relationship-driven brands like Mattel, Glossier, CorePower Yoga, Daily Harvest and 176,000+ others deliver 1:1 experiences at scale, improve efficiency, and drive revenue.

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