The 2025 Cyber Week confirmed a structural shift in the timing of sales: Black Friday ceased to be a one-day event. According to preliminary results, global online sales reached $334 billion, driven by major e-commerce digital ecosystems such as VTEX, Salesforce, Adobe, and Shopify. In key markets, sales started weeks in advance, giving rise to a phenomenon known as Black Days, Cyber Week, and even Cyber Month. Unlike in previous years, retailers who started their promotions early did not cannibalize demand; on the contrary, they managed to capture a larger share of the total market.
«Going forward, Black Friday will cease to be a single event and will become an extended sales season that starts earlier and ends later,» commented Naranjo. «The companies that will win are those that integrate AI into robust commerce platforms, operate on real-time data, and design promotions with margin sensitivity.»
Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the dominant factor of Cyber Week. AI-driven traffic to retail sites grew exponentially, marking a before-and-after moment in the sector. By 2026, competition will no longer focus solely on user attention, but on visibility within AI itself. In the United States alone, sales volume generated between $70 and $80 billion during this sales period. The growth has been inextricably linked to the consolidation of AI-driven e-commerce, which redefined the shopping experience and retail strategy.
Santiago Naranjo, CRO of VTEX, noted that the most relevant aspect of the season is the change in consumer behavior. Buyers are no longer simply buying more, but are «buying better,» making more deliberate decisions, comparing prices with greater rigor, and using flexible financial tools.
The «Buy Now, Pay Later» (BNPL) model experienced its largest historical expansion, reaching $101 billion in November.
