Shoppers spend billions on Black Friday to snag holiday deals, despite wider economic uncertainty

NEW YORK (AP) – Despite wider economic uncertainty hovering above this year’s holiday season, shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday – spending billions of dollars both in stores and online.

Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S. consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a 9.1% jump from last year. Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute.

Consumers also spent a record $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, per Adobe. Top categories that saw an uptick in sales across both days included video game consoles, electronics and home appliances. Shopping services powered by artificial intelligence and social media advertising have also particularly influenced what consumers choose to buy, the firm said.

Meanwhile, software company Salesforce estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $18 billion in the U.S. and $79 billion globally. And e-commerce platform Shopify said its merchants raked in a record $6.2 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. At its peak, sales reached $5.1 million per minute – with top categories including cosmetics and clothing, according to the Canadian company.

Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 4.1% from a year ago. The retail sales indicator, which is not adjusted for inflation, showed online sales jumped by double digits (10.4%), while in-store purchases inched up 1.7%.

Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said consumers are “navigating an uncertain environment” this holiday season “by shopping early, leveraging promotions, and investing in wish-list items.”

Black Friday is far from the sales event that created midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem just decades ago. More and more consumers have instead turned to online deals to make post-Thanksgiving purchases from the comfort of their own homes – or opt to stretch out spending across longer promotions now offered by retailers.

As a result, in-store traffic has continued to dwindle. Initial data from RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in physical stores, found that U.S. Black Friday traffic fell 3.6% from 2024.

But “the story isn’t just that shoppers stayed home; it’s that they’re changing how and when they shop,” Joe Shasteen, global manager of advanced analytics at RetailNext said in emailed comments on Saturday. He explained that customers are now spreading out purchases over a longer time frame and “walking into stores with a far narrower mission than we’ve seen in past holiday seasons.”

Black Friday remains a major date on retailers’ calendar – and Shasteen added that Friday’s drop is “notably better” than a sharper 6.2% decline RetailNext saw in in-store traffic for the days leading up to Thanksgiving. This indicates that, while shoppers remain cautious and are pulling back on in-store spending overall, “they’re still willing to show up for the biggest promotional moments,” he said.

Experts expect heightened holiday spending to continue through the weekend. In terms of e-commerce, Adobe expects U.S. shoppers to spend another $5.5 billion Saturday and $5.9 billion on Sunday – before reaching an estimated $14.2 billion peak on Cyber Monday, which would mark yet another record.

Still, rising prices could be contributing to some of those numbers. U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs on foreign imports have strained businesses and households alike over the last year. And despite spending more overall, Salesforce found U.S. shoppers purchased fewer items at checkout on Black Friday (down 2% from last year). Order volumes also slipped 1%, the firm noted, as average selling prices climbed 7%.

This year’s holiday spending rush arrives amid heightened economic uncertainty for consumers. Beyond tariffs, workers across public and private sectors are also struggling with anxieties over job security – amid both corporate layoffs and the after-effects of the 43-day government shutdown.

For the November-December holiday season overall, the National Retail Federation estimates U.S. shoppers will spend more than $1 trillion for the first time this year. But the rate of growth is slowing – with an anticipated increase of 3.7% to 4.2% year over year, compared to 4.3% in 2024’s holiday season.

At the same time, credit card debt and delinquencies on other short-term loans have been rising. And more and more shoppers are turning to “buy now, pay later” plans, which allows them to delay payments on holiday decor, gifts and other items.