One in three shoppers used AI during BFCM 2025. By Prime Day 2026, that number will be significantly higher.
Stackline's post-BFCM consumer research found that 35% of shoppers used AI tools to help them shop during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Adoption accelerated sharply in the second half of 2025 as embedded tools like Amazon Rufus, Google Gemini, and Walmart's Sparky became a natural part of the platforms where shoppers already were.
That makes BFCM 2025 the clearest signal available for what Prime Day 2026 will look like.
But what the data reveals about how shoppers used AI is where the real strategic signal lies. During a fast-moving, high-intent event the top use cases weren't discovery, they were price comparison and price history verification. Shoppers used AI to confirm that a deal was actually a deal before committing. That behavior has direct implications for how brands manage pricing, content, and visibility heading into 2026.
The adoption curve is moving fast
The pre-BFCM intent data sharpens the picture. Before the event, 64% of shoppers said they were planning to use or considering using AI to shop during BFCM. Actual usage came in at 35%, a gap that reflects friction, awareness, and habit formation more than lack of interest. The directional signal is clear: AI-assisted shopping is not a niche behavior approaching the mainstream. It has already crossed.
The platform breakdown is equally instructive. ChatGPT led actual usage at 46%, but the more telling story is in the embedded tools. Amazon Rufus (28%), Google Gemini (27%), and Walmart's Sparky (21%) each saw event-week usage outpace pre-event expectations. Shoppers encountered AI embedded in the platforms where they were already shopping, adjacent to the buy button, and used it.
Pricing integrity is now a competitive advantage
The single most consequential finding from Stackline's BFCM data is that consumers are primarily using AI to validate price integrity, not to find new products.
AI tools now surface price history in real time, giving shoppers instant visibility into whether a deal reflects genuine value. Brands that offer consistent, verifiable promotional depth are the ones that earn conversion from an increasingly informed shopper base.
As AI price validation becomes a standard part of the shopping journey, pricing hygiene ahead of major events becomes a competitive differentiator. Brands that maintain pricing consistency throughout the year, then offer clear and verifiable promotional value during events, will be rewarded by an increasingly AI-informed shopper base.
What brands should do before the next major event
The implications of AI-assisted shopping aren't abstract. They map directly to the work brands need to do ahead of Prime Day 2026 and every major event that follows.
[01] Audit pricing signals across the full pre-event window.
AI price history tools surface trends, not just snapshots. A brand that raises prices in the weeks before an event and then discounts during it will be visible to price-conscious shoppers. Stackline's pricing intelligence via Atlas allows brands to monitor their own pricing trajectory, and competitors', to ensure promotional depth represents genuine value.
[02] Optimize content for AI-assisted decision-making.
Rufus, Sparky, and Gemini don't just surface products, they summarize them. Product titles, descriptions, and review sentiment all influence how AI tools present and recommend items. Stackline's AI Visibility capability gives brands direct measurement of how they're showing up across AI platforms, and where the gaps are. Brands need to treat AI readability as a content requirement, not an afterthought.
[03] Invest in the pre-event visibility window.
Stackline's BFCM research found that shoppers were building baskets well in advance of the event. AI tools are accelerating that behavior — shoppers are using AI to research and shortlist products before deals go live, then converting when the event launches. Brands that build share of voice in the weeks before an event are the ones ending up on those AI-curated shortlists.
[04] Build post-event retargeting around AI-engaged shoppers.
AI shoppers during BFCM were deeply engaged but often undecided, precisely the audience that post-event retargeting is built for. Retargeting those audiences with precise, intent-matched creative is one of the highest-leverage post-event plays available. For a deeper look at how to structure that retargeting, including audience segmentation and repurchase cycle timing, Stackline's AMC 101 for Prime Day breaks down the full playbook.
The window to prepare is now
AI-assisted shopping is not coming to major promotional events in 2026. It arrived in 2025. The brands that treat it as a future problem will find the gap harder to close.
Stackline gives brands the intelligence to win in this environment, from pricing analytics and AI Visibility measurement to shopper insights and post-event retargeting capabilities. BFCM 2025 was the preview. Prime Day 2026 is the main event.
