Black Friday consumers in the US go online, rather than stand in line
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An Amazon logistics delivery worker navigating 5th Avenue on Black Friday in Manhattan on Nov 28.
PHOTO: KARSTEN MORAN/NYTIMES
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NEW YORK/ATLANTA – Bargain-hunting Americans clicked their way through Thanksgiving, spending US$8.6 billion (S$11 billion) online so far on Black Friday, as more consumers turned to laptops and phones instead of braving brisk weather to snap up deals over the crucial shopping weekend.
Adobe Analytics, which vets e-commerce transactions online, covering more than one trillion visits to US retail sites, expects US shoppers will spend between US$11.7 billion and US$11.9 billion online on Black Friday.
While early online sales figures showed a promising trend for spending, at major retailers – a bulk of Black Friday shopping has happened between 10am and 2pm, according to data from Adobe Analytics, with another surge expected in the evening. Many of those who ventured out said they were on a budget, fearful of overspending at a time when inflation remains above-trend and the labour market is softening.
“I’m being much more careful,” said Ms Grace Curbelo, 67, of New Rochelle, New York, who was at the Woodbury Common outlet centre in Central Valley, New York, on the morning of Nov 28. “I’m not sure how the economy will turn, and I don’t want to put myself in debt.”
Cautious consumers, higher prices
Strong Black Friday spending has been driven by deeper-than-expected discounts, Adobe said. Online shopping has diluted Black Friday’s significance, with promotions geared towards the event spread across weeks. Adobe Analytics expects Cyber Monday to drive US$14.2 billion in online sales, up 6.3 per cent from 2024, making it the biggest online shopping day of the year.
Shoppers are leaning heavily on promotional codes found online through social media influencers to squeeze out extra discounts during Cyber Week, said Mr Vivek Pandya, director of Adobe Digital Insights at Adobe Analytics.
The spectre of higher prices hovered over the day. US retail sales increased less than expected in September, in part due to elevated prices, and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have contributed to this trend, adding roughly 4.9 percentage points to retail prices, according to the non-profit Tax Foundation.
Software firm Salesforce said its early data showed prices in the United States rising faster than worldwide. The average online selling price for goods was 8 per cent higher than 2024, compared with 5 per cent globally, a sign of both the effect of tariffs and spending from affluent households, who have continued to shop while most income groups say their consumer confidence is low.
“This is the only market where we’re seeing such high increases in average selling price. So there absolutely is a component of retailers trying to save margins because of the impact of the tariffs,” said Ms Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce.
With unemployment near a four-year high, shoppers have also become more selective. US consumer confidence sagged to a seven-month low in November, according to economic research group The Conference Board, with fewer households planning to buy motor vehicles, houses and other big-ticket items over the next six months, or to make vacation plans.
The richest 10 per cent of Americans – those earning at least US$250,000 annually – accounted for about 48 per cent of all consumer spending in the second quarter of 2025, a steady increase from around 35 per cent of spending in the mid-1990s, according to Moody’s Analytics.
Ms Schwartz said: “Higher income consumers are a little more resilient, and that’s why we’re seeing strong growth in categories like furniture and luxury.”
Ms Heather Cheatham, 50, of Lynchburg, Virginia, started her Black Friday shopping by sampling scents and hunting for Armani eye tints in LVMH’s Sephora at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina.
She did not give herself a budget, and she has already purchased gifts for her daughter at apparel company American Eagle Outfitters’ Aerie, stereo equipment for her son and a golf putter for her other son.
Quiet at sun-up
Black Friday looked different in 2025, according to Mr Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at Circana, who spent the morning visiting stores and malls across New York and New Jersey. Gone were the early-morning rushes and long lines outside retailers.
Among the retailers Mr Cohen visited, Target “won the morning”, he said, because it handed out swag bags to the first 100 customers. Walmart gained momentum later in the day as traffic picked up.
About an hour before sun-up in freezing temperatures, Mr Quantavius Shorter, 40, a diesel engine mechanic from Atlanta, was one of the first of only a dozen people waiting in line at 5.59am at the local Walmart in Atlanta’s Gresham Park neighbourhood.
He bought a Roku flat-screen smart TV for US$298, a perfect discount for his smaller Christmas budget.
“This is usually $500,” said Mr Shorter. “I’m here early because I expected it to sell out.”
In Europe, the shopping day was marked by strikes at Amazon warehouses in Germany, with separate protests also planned outside Zara stores in Spain.
Meanwhile, Starbucks’ workers union also said they were escalating their ongoing indefinite strike to 26 more stores in the US on Black Friday. REUTERS
