Britain lags most of the world on AI shopping: it ranks 18th of 19 markets surveyed. But among likely Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) shoppers, planned AI use is rising fast.
YouGov's Great Britain BFCM 2026 report looks at who will shop, how much they plan to spend, and where AI fits in the path to purchase.
Key findings from the report include:
- 31% of Gen Z and Millennials are likely to shop during Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
- Planned AI use for BFCM among likely shoppers has almost doubled since last year (34% vs 19%).
- 47% of likely BFCM shoppers say that knowing if discounts are genuine is a difficult part of the sales events. Following this, BFCM AI shoppers and considerers both ranked finding the best price as their top use case for using AI.
- Almost half of AI shoppers (48%) are concerned about biased or sponsored recommendations, this also holds true for AI considers (45%).
The report also highlights AI usage in the UK compared to 15+ other countries, which AI assistants are most likely to be used by shoppers during these sales events, and many more insights around the evolving research and purchase journey impacting how Brits spend money during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
