Unlocking Holiday Sales: The Algorithmic Playbook for Black Friday and Cyber Monday Success

As AI-driven assistants and agentic systems enter the shopping mainstream, the mechanics of discovery are shifting from manual search to automated curation. From Amazon’s Rufus to generative search and voice-led browsing, the algorithm isn’t just matching products to keywords – it’s interpreting intent, context and conversation history.

Winning the Algorithmic Game

According to VML’s 2025 Future Shopper Report, marketplaces are the new storefronts, critical conversion hubs, and the primary discovery engines for consumers. Ignoring their influence is like opening a physical store in a hidden alleyway – your products might be great, but no one will find them.

This digital shelf is fast becoming the 'agentic shelf' where AI intermediaries decide what’s visible, relevant and credible. For their holiday needs, shoppers won't be the only ones searching – their AI companions will be as well. That means brands need structured, enriched data and consistent content quality to ensure they’re discoverable, shoppable and recommendable.

To win the algorithmic game, brands must master several interconnected pillars of the digital experience, optimising for algorithms today, while training the agents of tomorrow. This goes beyond simple price adjustments to influence the AI that governs the digital shelf:

Product Information Quality – The Foundation of Algorithmic Trust: Algorithms thrive on rich, accurate data to rank and recommend products. Our VML Future Shopper Report underscores that consumers demand accurate descriptions and high-quality media. This directly impacts item health and your product's visibility in automated discovery engines.

Retail Media & Visibility: Retail media is the accelerator and strategic lever to ensure optimised products gain the necessary visibility within crowded marketplaces and directly influences the algorithms that govern product placement and recommendations.

Pricing & Value (Algorithmic Appeal): Price remains a top consideration for consumers. In fact, 92% of shoppers say the price of an item is important when shopping online, making it the number one factor (VML Future Shopper)

What It Means For Your Business

The shift in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday playbook demands a strategic re-evaluation. Success in this new era of e-commerce hinges on embracing an algorithmic-first mindset and investing in the capabilities – from retail media to data optimization – that secure visibility and turn marketplaces into conversion hubs.

Navigating this complex, algorithmic landscape requires specialised expertise, both internally and externally, and an approach that includes:

Optimising The Digital Shelf: Meticulously optimise product data and item health for higher algorithmic ranking and improved algorithmic appeal.

Mastering Retail Media: Develop sophisticated retail media strategies to maximise visibility and drive conversions across the entire omnichannel journey.

Preparing for AI-Driven Commerce: Build a practical strategy for the agentic shopper and the next phase of the digital experience.

Retail success this holiday shopping season isn't merely about discounts – it's about mastering the marketplace algorithms that dictate whether your products are seen by consumers.

Download VML's whitepaper 'The Marketplace Holiday Playbook: Why Black Friday Starts in the Algorithm' here.