AI Shopping Assistants: Your Secret Weapon for 2024 Black Friday Success

Black Friday & Cyber Monday (BFCM): The Ultimate E-commerce Showdown

Black Friday and Cyber Monday—now collectively known as BFCM—are two of the most important dates on the retail calendar. These days offer a major opportunity for online retailers to boost sales and attract new customers. In 2023, these events shattered records, and 2024 is set to be even bigger.

In an increasingly competitive market, how do you keep customers engaged long enough to convert? AI shopping assistants are transforming the customer journey by offering personalized experiences that boost conversions and satisfaction. We’re here to guide you through your game plan for making the most of this holiday season—with a little help from AI.

BFCM 2023: What Went Down and What We Can Learn

Big sales, from the couch 

The takeaway? A single day of sales won’t cut it anymore. To make the most of this extended shopping period, retailers need a strategy that spans multiple days and captures customers' attention throughout the week.

Customer service strain 

Customer service teams are the unsung heroes of BFCM. Support inquiries can surge by as much as 30% during the sales rush, as shoppers expected quick responses while navigating multiple sites. It’s critical to prepare for a customer service blitz so your reps aren't left overwhelmed. Make sure you have systems in place to efficiently manage the increased volume, and seek out opportunities to reduce inquiries by automating responses to common shopper questions.

Retailers Are Gearing Up Early

Preparation for BFCM is starting earlier every year. Retailers are getting savvier, with the majority beginning their Black Friday prep as early as the summer. They focus on making sure their websites are fast, reliable, and ready to handle the influx of traffic that comes with BFCM.

Preparing Your Storefront for BFCM

Conduct a Site Audit: Don’t Let Tech Glitches Hold You Back

Before the BFCM rush hits, give your website a thorough once-over. Any hiccups during high-traffic periods could cost you sales, so it’s crucial to address potential issues in advance.

Google PageSpeed Insights is a free tool at that analyzes your website’s speed on both mobile and desktop, offering suggestions on how to improve load times. Faster pages lead to higher conversion rates, especially during peak shopping periods like BFCM.

Create Engaging Experiences to Keep Customers On-Site

Studies show that 88% of online shoppers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience, and with attention spans shrinking, you have only seconds to make an impression. Here are a couple of techniques to keep shoppers engaged: 

1. Dynamic Product Pages: Build product pages that adapt to each customer's individual needs. This approach ensures the shopping experience feels more personal and valuable, offering just enough information to guide customers through their decision-making process without causing overload.
   
   
2. AI Shopping Assistants: Tools like alby offer personalized, real-time support, answering customer questions and making tailored recommendations to keep visitors on the page and engaged (more on these later!).

Be Ready to Answer Customer Questions

Shoppers tend to have a lot of questions they need answers to before making a purchase. Platforms like Zendesk and Gorgias centralize customer support, helping your team manage these questions more effectively. However, even the best human agents can struggle to keep up during peak times. AI can automatically handle up to 60% of common customer inquiries, such as questions about shipping, return policies, or product details. This not only reduces the burden on your support staff but also ensures shoppers get instant responses.

AI Shopping Assistants: Your Secret Weapon

In the fast-paced world of online shopping, attention spans are short, especially during BFCM when shoppers face decision fatigue from countless deals. If they don’t get quick answers, they’ll move on to another site. AI shopping assistants help cut through the clutter by engaging customers instantly and guiding them to what they need.

Streamline the Shopping Journey by Immediately Predicting and Answering Questions

AI shopping assistants can step in to answer customer questions in real time, preventing frustration and ensuring shoppers get the information they need right away.

But they don’t just respond to inquiries—AI shopping assistants can also anticipate the questions shoppers might not even realize they have. With customers moving quickly during BFCM, these predictive responses help build confidence and encourage purchases, all without requiring shoppers to take the time to type out their own questions.

Provide Personalized Product Recommendations

AI shopping assistants can also provide personalized product recommendations based on shoppers' browsing behavior and preferences. By guiding customers toward items that best meet their needs, the experience feels more tailored, increasing engagement and significantly boosting the chances of conversion.

Sites with products that require extensive customer education especially benefit from AI shopping assistants. For example, DefenAge, a leading skincare retailer, leveraged alby’s AI shopping assistant to answer complex customer questions while offering personalized advice tailored to individual needs.

Maximize Cross-Selling and Upselling

BFCM isn’t just about offering discounts; it’s about maximizing the value of every sale. Cross-selling and upselling are crucial strategies to achieve this, by suggesting relevant products or bundles that complement what customers are already browsing. 

AI shopping assistants play a key role in this, recommending both alternative and complementary products that align with the shopper's interests. These techniques not only improve the customer experience by offering more personalized options but also help increase your average order value.

Take the Load Off Customer Support Teams

As mentioned, during BFCM, support teams can easily get overwhelmed with inquiries. AI shopping assistants can handle routine questions and FAQs, freeing up your human support staff to tackle more complex or high-priority issues. This means faster service for shoppers and a more efficient workflow for your team.

Learn more about alby's AI shopping assistant

Discover how alby’s AI shopping assistant can help you engage and convert more shoppers this BFCM. Book a demo today or sign up for a 14-day free trial to automatically start answering customer questions.