Shoppers spend billions on Black Friday holiday deals despite economic uncertainty: Report

WASHINGTON, DC: America may be grumbling about the economy, but that didn’t stop Black Friday shoppers from showing up in droves. 

According to the Associated Press, despite economic uncertainty amid this year’s holiday season, consumers still unloaded billions both online and in stores for Black Friday.

Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said US shoppers clicked their way to a record $11.8 billion spent online Friday, a 9.1% jump from last year. The peak sales hit between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. nationwide, when online carts were getting stuffed at a whopping $12.5 million every minute.

Thanksgiving wasn’t exactly slow either. Adobe said consumers shelled out another $6.4 billion online, with hot categories being video game consoles, electronics, and home appliances. Adobe says AI-powered shopping tools and social media ads have been driving what people toss into their carts.

Global cash splash and record-breaking numbers

Beyond Adobe's numbers, Salesforce estimated $18 billion in US Black Friday online sales and $79 billion worldwide.

Shopify merchants also hit their own jackpot, pulling in a record $6.2 billion globally. The Canadian e-commerce giant said orders were blasting through at $5.1 million per minute at rush hour, with cosmetics and clothing being the top categories.

Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tallies both online and in-store spending, said total Black Friday sales (excluding automotive) rose 4.1% from a year ago. The real flex was online, with sales jumping 10.4%, while brick-and-mortar stores saw a modest 1.7% uptick.

Consumer behavior may be complicated, but Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said shoppers are “navigating an uncertain environment” by “shopping early, leveraging promotions, and investing in wish-list items.”

Online trumps offline

With retailers spreading promotions across weeks, more consumers are shopping from the comfort of their couch.

Physical stores, meanwhile, did fare as well. RetailNext found in-store Black Friday traffic fell 3.6% compared to 2024, though the firm insisted that it was “notably better” than the 6.2% decline they watched in the days before Thanksgiving.

Sensormatic Solutions reported visits dipped 2.1%, but said that drop was totally expected. Even with the dip, traffic for Black Friday week was up nearly 57% compared to the week prior.

Sensormatic’s retail guru Grant Gustafson remarked, “Black Friday has really turned into like a full week event, or even further.” He added that “Black Friday is really the start of just a really critical stretch for retailers,” with the post-Thanksgiving weekend and the sprint to Christmas shaping up to be some of the year’s hottest days for in-store traffic.

Adobe expects Americans to unload another $5.5 billion on Saturday, $5.9 billion on Sunday, and then an estimated $14.2 billion on Cyber Monday.

Shoppers getting stingier

According to AP, part of this year’s sky-high spending may have less to do with people buying “more” and more to do with everything costing more.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports have been squeezing businesses and households all year. Salesforce said US shoppers actually bought fewer items on Black Friday, with purchases down 2% from last year. Order volumes slipped 1%, while average selling prices shot up 7%.

Beyond tariffs, workers across both public and private sectors have been concerned about job security, thanks to corporate layoffs and the hangover of the recent 43-day government shutdown.

Those nerves are even showing up in-store. Gustafson explained that Sensormatic doesn’t track spending, but "we do track consumer footsteps,” and what they’re seeing is shoppers “thinking a little bit harder about their purchases” to make sure they’re scoring “their very best deals." 

Even with the jitters, this holiday season is still expected to crack the trillion-dollar ceiling. The National Retail Federation forecasts US shoppers will spend more than $1 trillion across November and December for the first time. But the growth rate is cooling as it was expected to rise 3.7% to 4.2%, compared to 4.3% in 2024.

But that giant haul might come with a financial hangover. Credit card debt is climbing, delinquencies on short-term loans are rising, and more shoppers are hitching their wallets to “buy now, pay later” plans just to afford holiday décor, gifts, etc.