Smart engagement and AI reshape Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2025 peak season

New data reveals that 2025’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday success was driven by smarter engagement tactics, AI-driven personalisation, and loyalty initiatives, leading to less discounting but higher revenue from repeat customers.

As retailers and customers exhaled after another intense Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend, new data shows the 2025 peak season was defined less by deeper markdowns and more by smarter engagement: loyalty programmes, owned‑channel orchestration and AI‑driven personalisation powered growth while average discounts fell. According to the original report, average discount rates slipped from roughly 29.1% to 26.2%, yet total gross merchandise value climbed in the low double digits as repeat customers and tailored offers offset the pullback in blanket promotions. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)[^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)[^[3]^](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3230713/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-aipowered-bfcm)

Brands that prioritised loyalty initiatives , early access drops, VIP perks and lifecycle marketing , outperformed those relying on mass discounting. Klaviyo‑powered merchants saw revenue from returning buyers rise markedly, helping total GMV grow by around 11% year‑on‑year, while new‑buyer growth lagged behind. The shift underlines that repeat customers, activated through targeted experiences, were the backbone of this year’s uplift. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)[^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)[^[3]^](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3230713/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-aipowered-bfcm)

Owned channels proved central to execution. CRM channels (email plus SMS) accounted for roughly two‑fifths of BFCM GMV for the measured cohort, peaking on Black Friday itself, and text messaging had a breakout season with send volumes and revenue both climbing substantially year‑on‑year. These channels not only drove conversions but also enabled the timely, personalised touches that made restrained discounts feel more compelling. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)[^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)

Browsing and product discovery surged, signalling more considered purchase behaviour. Product views rose sharply , in some measures by up to around 41% , while average order value remained relatively steady, helped by modest increases in average selling price. The picture suggests consumers spent more time researching and comparing, responding better to relevance and quality than to headline markdowns. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)

AI and unified customer data emerged as the engine behind that relevance. Retailers that deployed AI‑powered product recommendations, real‑time segmentation and unified profiles reported substantially deeper engagement and higher conversion rates; revenue tied to AI recommendations jumped strongly. It was as much about orchestration , guiding shoppers from email discovery to on‑site comparison and SMS conversion , as about the models themselves. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)[^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)[^[4]^](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-ai-powered-bfcm-ce7d51d9de8df122)

Day‑by‑day dynamics also shifted. Across the five‑day window from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, later days gained relative importance: Cyber Sunday saw rapid growth and Cyber Monday outpaced Black Friday in some measures, indicating a lengthening and smoothing of peak demand that rewards sustained, lifecycle‑based outreach. Sectoral performance varied, with categories such as Health & Beauty and Apparel among the faster‑growing segments in Klaviyo’s dataset. [^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)[^[3]^](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3230713/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-aipowered-bfcm)[^[5]^](https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/klaviyo-reports-38b-in-attributed-sales-during-black-friday-weekend-93CH-4386791)

The implication for 2026 is clear: retailers that invest in unified data, intelligent segmentation, lifecycle engagement and scalable AI personalisation stand the best chance of capturing intent and growing sustainably beyond headline sale weekends. Rather than chasing ever‑steeper discounts, the evidence points to building owned‑channel relationships and delivering timely, relevant experiences as the more durable route to growth. [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/)[^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping)[^[4]^](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-ai-powered-bfcm-ce7d51d9de8df122)

📌 Reference Map:

##Reference Map:

• [^[1]^](https://powerretail.com.au/bfcm-2025-loyalty-and-ai-drive-growth-as-discounts-drop/) (Power Retail / Klaviyo report) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 7
• [^[2]^](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/bfcm-holiday-shopping) (Klaviyo newsroom) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7
• [^[3]^](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3230713/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-aipowered-bfcm) (GuruFocus summary) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 6
• [^[4]^](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/klaviyo-breaks-records-with-first-ai-powered-bfcm-ce7d51d9de8df122) (MarketScreener) – Paragraph 5, Paragraph 7
• [^[5]^](https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/klaviyo-reports-38b-in-attributed-sales-during-black-friday-weekend-93CH-4386791) (Investing.com) – Paragraph 6

Source: Fuse Wire Services