UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / December 04, 2025 / Black Friday 2025 has delivered its headline moment: Adobe Analytics reports that online sales hit $11.8 billion, up 9.1% year-on-year. Yet behind the big number sits a far quieter truth: not everyone won the weekend. Many e-commerce teams saw underwhelming results, missed forecasts, or failed to match last year’s performance. According to search-to-conversion specialists Firney, now is the moment for brands to reflect on what held them back and to consider the strategic shifts that could change their trajectory in 2026.

While total spend is up, search behaviour is shifting faster than many teams can track. AI-driven browsing, conversational search, and the rapid rise of Large Language Model (LLM)-powered shopping journeys are reshaping where and how consumers discover products.

For brands who were surprised by how much they missed out during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, LLM optimisation may be the single most important move they make ahead of next year’s biggest shopping days. Early adopters are benefitting from cheaper acquisition, capturing higher intent traffic, and seeing stronger conversion efficiency.

“Businesses factoring LLM into their SEO and marketing are the ones that are winning,” says Marc Firth, CEO at Firney. “We’re entering a world where consumers search differently, compare differently, and trust differently. If a brand isn’t visible in these new pathways, it’s not part of the conversation.”

Looking at the big picture can help to explain the mismatch between record-breaking spend and disappointing individual results. The 2025 holiday season has arrived against a backdrop of tighter budgets, higher unemployment, fragile consumer confidence, and noticeably cautious spending habits.

Shoppers are spending - but far more selectively. They’re choosing fewer retailers and favouring brands that make it easy to find products and buy from. As a result, many sites that relied on traditional traffic channels or outdated strategies simply didn’t make the shortlist this year.

Firney is encouraging brands to see this moment not as a setback, but as a powerful turning point. Conversion pathways may be evolving faster than any previous retail cycle, but there is still time to close the gaps exposed by this Black Friday.

From LLM-focused optimisation and modern search strategy to path-to-purchase restructuring and performance-driven content, Firney helps teams rebuild momentum where it counts most: visibility, intent, and conversion.

Brands that begin adapting now will be the ones walking into Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026 with confidence rather than concern.

For more information, visit www.firney.com.