E-commerce giant Amazon announced that its Black Friday week and Cyber Monday holiday shopping event this year — from November 21 through December 2 — was its biggest ever compared to the same 12-day period in prior years.

It said that the deal event saw record sales and a record number of items sold, demonstrating the continuing growth of e-commerce demand. However, it did not disclose the specific number.

Amazon said television was the top seller. In the US, some of the best-selling product categories included electronics, toys, and beauty.

Utilising AI in e-commerce

Amazon said it helps make online shopping faster and easier by using innovative generative AI features to help customers quickly find the right items.

It noted that Rufus, Amazon's AI-powered conversational shopping assistant, also helps customers find tailored deals and gifts.

On Black Friday this year, shoppers reportedly spent a record US$10.8 billion, according to Adobe Analytics data. This amount is 10% higher than last year's total and double the spending during the same period in 2017, NPR reported.