TechCrunch Daily Crunch Amazon’s AI chatbot drove sales on Black Friday
4 snips
Dec 2, 2025 Amazon's AI chatbot, Rufus, significantly boosted sales this Black Friday, outpacing total traffic on the website. The chatbot enhances product discovery and recommendations for shoppers, showcasing the growing role of AI in retail. Notably, AI-driven traffic surged 805% year-over-year and increased conversion rates by 38%. Despite the $11.8 billion spent, there's uncertainty about AI's overall impact due to rising prices and lower order volumes. The episode also touches on trends in app downloads compared to previous years.
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Infrastructure Startups Still Attract Big Rounds
- Supabase raised $100M at a $5B valuation after earlier funding, showing strong investor interest in developer infrastructure.
- The startup prioritizes product vision over large enterprise deals, per its CEO.
Rufus Boosted Purchase Rates
- Sessions that included Rufus produced much larger day-over purchase gains than those without it.
- Rufus-enabled sessions that resulted in purchases rose substantially more than non-Rufus purchases.
AI Sessions Outperform Average Traffic
- Amazon's AI chatbot Rufus correlated with higher conversion and session growth on Black Friday.
- AI-driven sessions grew faster than average site traffic and showed stronger purchase rates.