Black Friday looks set to be the biggest day of the year for retailers, with spend consistently soaring in an upward direction for the seasonal event year on year. A recent report from PWC forecast UK spend alone will hit a staggering £6.4 billion. So what role might AI play this year in supporting sales?
From forecasting to competitive but profit enhancing pricing, and more personalised and efficient customer service delivery, the potential enhancements are plentiful for both customer facing and internal operations this year. Let’s take a look at what a crop of experts in these fields have to say.
Achieving competitive pricing and precise stock forecasting
If retailers fail to prepare, they must be prepared to fail. An intelligent pricing and markdown strategy, as well as accurate stock forecasting, are both crucial steps that brands and retailers must take in preparation.
“Black Friday is the stress test for every retailer’s pricing model, and legacy processes and systems can’t keep up with the pace like AI can,” says Tom Summerfield, Director of Revenue at UiPath.
“Retailers using AI-driven pricing, report time savings of up to 40%, freeing teams to focus on more strategic, customer-facing tasks during the Black Friday rush. Beyond smarter pricing, AI will be key for driving more efficient retail operations this holiday season and beyond.”
Oana Jinga, Co-Founder of Dexory, explains how real time stock-forecasting is the difference between retailers that succeed, and those that panic over Black Friday. “Real-time visibility is now the difference between coping and scrambling. A digital twin of the warehouse powered by continuous live data can give teams clarity on how space is being used in the moment, helping them adjust setups quickly and prioritise stock movements for fast-selling items,” she states.
“That same visibility also keeps fulfilment on track by showing exactly what’s available, enabling retailers to promote surplus stock, hold back items that have run out and ultimately avoid disappointing customers.”
Manvinder Singh, VP of AI Product Management, at Redis reiterates that there’s no room for error when it comes to stock and inventory planning.
“Retailers enter this Black Friday in a landscape that has changed rapidly in a short space of time. Online demand is no longer just higher, it’s less predictable and far less forgiving, with digital systems facing a huge pressure to scale in line with fluctuating demand. Modernising the data layer and moving away from tightly coupled systems that cannot flex when peaks arrive has become essential.
“The winners this year will be the retailers who treat performance and personalisation as core infrastructure, not add-ons. By improving the speed and reliability of inventory information, retailers can avoid the delays and inconsistencies that frustrate shoppers at the busiest retail time of the year.”
Delivering personalisation and efficiency, simultaneously
Although Black Friday may be associated with speed and sales, personalisation is still key when it comes to grabbing consumer attention and fostering long term loyalty.
“The pressure is on to deliver personalised, fast and consistent experiences for customers, whether they are shopping online or in-store,” says Paul McHugh, Head of Sales EMEA at Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions.
“52% of retailers are using in-store Wi-Fi to provide personalised customer marketing. Ensuring backend networks evolve alongside front end retail innovation will help businesses differentiate with tailored customised experiences amidst the buzz of Black Friday and throughout the year.”
Jamie Cooper, CPO at Natterbox, emphasises how crucial retaining high-quality customer service even amidst the sales chaos, explaining that, “32% of customers would stop buying from a brand they love after one bad experience, which is why companies must have AI agents on-hand to tackle these issues and free up human agents’ time to focus on more complex requests.”
“AI is essential for reducing hold times and ensuring that quick, efficient customer service isn’t compromised by a peak in consumer activity.”
Transforming how consumers shop
According to Andrew Norman, SVP & GM, EMEA at Commerce, AI is transforming how consumers are shopping, and brands and retailers must follow suit with their targeting strategies. “Black Friday 2025 will see AI evolve how people shop, and how online retailers deliver efficient, high quality customer experiences. With trusting recommendations from AI more than those from people, AI is becoming a trusted shopping companion.”
He concludes, “in order to stay ahead, brands must harness AI-driven insights to offer authentic recommendations and create shopping experiences that feel truly tailored. Meanwhile, AI-powered checkout systems must deliver seamless convenience to help foster loyalty. Shoppers in 2025 want a personal shopper, not a copy-and-paste concierge.”
Stuart Templeton, VP of UK and Ireland at Genesys, suggests that AI agents are rapidly becoming a key part of the online shopping experience. He explains, “advanced AI agents can turn endless scrolling into real inspiration with curated and relevant recommendations. AI-driven customer service that feels personal and human will set brands apart. Combining emotional intelligence with tailored recommendations will help brands stand out and build lasting loyalty this Black Friday, especially as retailers compete harder than ever to be heard.”
Measuring progress in retail technology
Importantly, the aftermath of Black Friday and the wider holiday shopping period, is the perfect opportunity for brands and retailers to note how effective their tech stack is and identify if changes need to be made.
Ravi Shankar Sundaram, Senior Director of Product Management at Pragmatic Semiconductor, says, “periods of intense retail activity like Black Friday make it essential for brands to know the provenance of every item moving through their network. NFC, a subset of RFID technology, enhances product security through unique chip identifiers that are inherently hard to clone. These identifiers enable verification at multiple points in the supply chain, helping to mitigate the risk of counterfeit goods reaching consumers. Recent manufacturing advances have also helped lower the cost and environmental impact of deploying item-level intelligence at scale, making it easier for retailers to adopt. This lets NFC technology provide a frictionless digital touchpoint and much-needed reassurance to consumers.”
Black Friday isn’t just a day for customers to grab the best deals – for businesses, it’s an exercise in testing their systems and proving that they can handle anything that comes their way.
