On the agenda…

How has Black Friday been for you so far? Yes, I know, it starts earlier every year and seemingly is only tangentially related to Friday at all. But still did you manage to shift some extra stock? Do immeasurable damage to your profit margins? Irrevocably harm your pricing power? Great! I bought a nice coat. We’re all winners.

But what you might not have noticed is how those deal-hungry customers were arriving at your doorstep to begin with, as this is the first Black Friday season where AI shopping features had a big role to play. Google trumpeted the power of its AI Mode to upend the shopping experience for its users. Within the tool, shoppers could track products, see changes in price over the course of the year and compare with other similar products. All within Google’s ecosystem. It’s clever stuff.