Black Friday and Cyber Monday are already behind us. Reuters reports that U.S. consumers spent a record 11.8 billion dollars online on Black Friday 2025, a 9.1% increase compared to last year and Cyber Monday spending is projected to reach about 14 billion dollars. At the same time, FedEx estimates that 97 percent of large retail companies are using AI this holiday season to enhance the shopping experience, from chatbots and audience targeting inventory management and pricing optimization.
The first wave of peak season traffic has hit your e-commerce site, your stores and your contact center. Companies with AI Agents for Retail and E-commerce overperformed, while other companies held up under pressure, and some of them cracked. But peak season is far from over.
Now we are moving into the Christmas delivery rush and the January returns wave – two phases that can easily undo the gains you made on your biggest promotion days.
This is where retail AI agents make a real difference: keeping customers informed, orders on track and support teams productive throughout the entire season, while also laying the groundwork for next year’s holiday season.
Peak season is now a three-act story
For most retailers, peak season of shopping now looks like this:
- Act 1: Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Huge traffic spikes, deal hunting, rapid comparison shopping. - Act 2: Christmas delivery rush
Urgent questions about delivery cut-offs, stock, click & collect and gifting. - Act 3: January returns & exchanges
Heavy contact volumes for returns, exchanges, warranty and billing fixes.
If your AI is only designed for Act 1, you are leaving money and loyalty on the table.
Modern AI agents for retail and ecommerce need to support all three acts: helping customers choose, buy, receive and, if needed, return – in a way that feels joined-up and effortless.
What retail AI agents should be doing for you
Right now, the big question customers have is simple:
“Will this work in time for the next wave of customers?”
That shows up as:
- “Will this arrive in time if I order today?”
- “Is it available for pickup in my local store?”
- “What are your delivery cut-off dates?”
- “Do you have this size in stock anywhere near me?”
A retail AI agent connected to your inventory, order management and delivery systems can:
- Answer time-sensitive questions instantly
No queues, no transfers, just clear, accurate information about delivery windows and stock. - Guide shoppers to workable options
If an item will not arrive in time, the agent can propose alternatives or click & collect options that do. - Keep journeys moving
Helping customers resolve last-minute checkout issues (promo codes, addresses, payment questions) before they abandon the cart.
With a platform like Teneo AI, these AI agents work across web, mobile and voice channels, using natural language while still respecting your business rules and policies.
How AI agents turn returns into loyalty moments
Some think the season slows down after new years, but that is hardly the truth.
Now your customers are dealing with:
- Wrong sizes, colours or models
- Unwanted gifts that need to be exchanged or refunded
- Warranty questions and repair requests
- Subscription or billing adjustments
For your operation, this often becomes one of the most painful periods of the year. Done well, though, returns and exchanges are powerful loyalty moments. A retail AI agent can:
- Explain policies in plain language
Eligibility, time windows, in-store vs postal returns, refund options. - Guide customers step by step
From starting a return to generating labels and tracking the process. - Protect revenue where it makes sense
Offering size exchanges, store credit or relevant alternatives instead of defaulting straight to refunds. - Reduce pressure on human agents
By automating the repetitive parts of returns and only escalating the complex or sensitive cases.
Platforms like Teneo Agentic AI are built to automate these flows end-to-end while still integrating with your existing order, payment and CRM systems.
Using this season to get ready for the future
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday already passed, you have real data on:
- Your top contact drivers
- Where carts were abandoned
- Where service queues spiked
- Which channels performed best under load
This makes now the perfect moment to plan AI improvements for next year.
When you look at AI agents for retail and ecommerce, focus on three things:
- Coverage across the journey
Can one AI framework support discovery, checkout, tracking, returns and loyalty – or are you stitching together separate bots? - Depth of integration
Does the agent have real-time access to inventory, pricing, logistics, loyalty and order data so it can give accurate, personalized answers? - Control and governance
Can you govern what the agent can say and do, how it escalates, and how it handles personal data, while still using powerful large language models?
Teneo uses a Hybrid AI approach, combining LLMs with deterministic logic and deep integrations so AI agents stay conversational without becoming a black box.
Where Teneo fits in for enterprise retailers
For enterprise retailers, Teneo 8 helps you:
- Deploy one AI agent across channels
Web chat, in-app, messaging, social and voice, all sharing the same brain and context.
- Automate the most common journeys
Product discovery, order status, delivery updates, returns, exchanges, warranty and loyalty queries.
- Scale for peak without losing control
High-volume handling with clear guardrails for compliance, brand tone and escalation rules.
- Measure what matters
Impact on containment, deflection, CSAT, AHT, conversion and revenue – not just interaction counts.
You get AI experiences that are ready for real-world peak pressure, not just a limited pilot.
Ready to Elevate Your Peak-Season shopping With AI Agents?
Peak season is only getting more demanding. If you want to automate key journeys, reduce operational pressure and deliver consistent, real-time support across channels, we can help.
Ramazan Gurbuz
Product Marketing Executive at Teneo.ai with a background in Conversational AI and software development. Combines technical depth and strategic marketing to lead global AI product launches, developer initiatives, and LLM-driven growth campaigns.