Why Live Chat Is a Must-Have on Black Friday
Every year on Black Friday, retailers see a huge increase in customer interactions. Online stores often report about 57% more orders than usual during this time...
8 min read
Live Chat
Black Friday
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Black Friday is one of the busiest periods for retailers worldwide. From early-morning online rushes to last-minute deals, customer inquiries spike dramatically, often overwhelming traditional support teams. To maintain high levels of customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, businesses are increasingly turning to AI live chat and omnichannel customer support solutions.
Why AI and omnichannel support are crucial on Black Friday
During high-demand sales events, customers expect instant answers across multiple platforms. A multichannel support strategy ensures that shoppers can contact brands via live chat, email, social media, or messaging apps. Unified communication channels allow businesses to consolidate these inquiries, providing a seamless omnichannel experience for every customer.
Consumers are increasingly open to digital-assistant and AI-driven support: for example, a 2025 survey found that 81% of Black Friday shoppers would consider using AI to help with holiday shopping.
By combining AI capabilities with human support, retailers can create a hybrid AI chat system that balances speed with personalization. This combination allows businesses to scale their operations without sacrificing quality.
The power of AI-powered chatbots
AI-powered chatbots have become essential in managing peak traffic periods like Black Friday. Here’s why:
- Scalable customer service — Chatbots can handle thousands of simultaneous interactions, reducing wait times and ensuring all customers get timely responses.
- Automated order and shipping updates — By automating notifications and FAQs, retailers can free human agents for more complex inquiries.
- Personalised recommendations — AI analyses customer behaviour and purchase history to provide tailored product suggestions, enhancing the overall shopping experience.
- 24/7 availability — AI chatbots operate around the clock, ensuring support is always available, even outside business hours.
In a 2025 survey by Sinch, the top use-cases for chatbots during Black Friday were: 52.9% of shoppers open to using chatbots for order tracking, 43.5% for product discovery, and 37.9% for after-hours support.
Integrating AI chatbots with a retailer’s existing CRM or helpdesk systems provides seamless handovers between bots and human agents, ensuring smooth resolution for complex cases. AI chatbots can also be deployed to manage queries efficiently and assist human agents when traffic spikes.
Human + AI support: striking the right balance
While automation is powerful, customers still value human interaction for nuanced issues. A hybrid AI chat approach ensures:
- AI handles repetitive tasks like FAQs, order tracking, and payment issues.
- Human agents intervene for escalations, complaints, and personalised guidance.
- Data-driven improvement where AI learns from human interactions to become more effective over time.
This model allows businesses to scale their customer service tools for Black Friday while maintaining a human touch that builds trust and loyalty. AI chatbots can help collect interaction data to continuously improve support performance.
Building a unified omnichannel experience
To maximise the benefits of AI live chat, retailers must implement fully unified communication channels:
- Single dashboard for agents — Combine email, chat, social media and messaging apps.
- Consistent messaging — Ensure AI and human agents provide consistent answers across all channels.
- Integrated customer history — Provide context to agents for faster and more personalised support.
In Europe specifically, more than half of consumers (57%) plan to use AI shopping assistants this holiday season and many regularly use 3-4 channels when purchasing non-essentials.
By doing so, businesses create a frictionless omnichannel experience that keeps customers satisfied, regardless of the channel they choose. AI chatbots can support this process by integrating multiple channels into one platform.
Black Friday support automation strategies
Automation is key to handling the surge in inquiries:
- Pre-programmed FAQs for common Black Friday issues like shipping delays or return policies.
- AI-driven recommendations that suggest products based on real-time inventory and user preferences.
- Automated escalations where AI recognises complex queries and transfers them to human agents.
- Performance monitoring to optimise chatbot responses and human workflows during peak hours.
These strategies allow retailers to maintain scalable customer service without compromising quality or speed.
Steps to improve customer support with AI
To leverage AI effectively during Black Friday, retailers should:
- Deploy AI-powered chatbots across live chat, social media, and email channels.
- Unify communication channels for a consistent support experience.
- Train AI with historical customer data to anticipate peak issues.
- Implement hybrid AI + human support to balance efficiency with personalised care.
- Continuously monitor and optimise AI performance to improve response quality and reduce escalations.
Brands that adopt these steps position themselves to not just handle increased volume but deliver enhanced experience.
Real-life examples and statistics
A recent analysis noted that AI played a role in roughly $60 billion worth of sales during Cyber Week (starting with Black Friday). Survey data show that over half of shoppers (52.9%) are open to chatbots for order tracking and 37.9% for after-hours support.
In Europe, more than half of consumers (57%) intend to use AI shopping assistants this holiday season.
These examples show that improving customer support with AI not only enhances service but also directly impacts sales and customer loyalty.
Conclusion
Black Friday is a high-pressure period for retailers, and traditional customer service approaches often fall short. Leveraging AI live chat, chatbot automation, and a multichannel support strategy allows businesses to scale efficiently while maintaining a superior customer experience.
Combining human + AI support through a hybrid AI chat system ensures that simple inquiries are resolved instantly while complex issues receive personalised attention. Integrating all support channels into unified communication channels creates a seamless omnichannel experience, keeping customers satisfied even during the busiest shopping days.
By following a clear chatbot integration strategy and employing AI tools for retailers, businesses can turn Black Friday stress into an opportunity for operational excellence and customer loyalty.
