Thanksgiving and Black Friday Online Sales Notch Record, But Retailers Face New Challenges

In recent years, Black Friday has expanded from a one-day event to a multi-day festivity. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Cyber Week? Girl, so confusing. But there’s a reason for it: it works wonders for retailers. Although sales are alive and well at physical stores across America, the rise of week-long sales, flash deals, and other specials is pushing consumers back towards online shopping for the holidays. As a result, this year’s gangbusters online sales have outpaced in-store sales, reversing the post-pandemic comeback of physical merchants.

Shop… ‘til you stop: According to Salesforce, global online shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday surpassed a record $101B — with the US accounting for over $25B. Sales on these two days rose 7-8% from last year, outstripping inflation. In contrast, in-store sales declined by 8%, showing customers prefer the comfort and warmth of shopping from home over braving the cold for local stores.

• TechCrunch reports that discounts were a major driver for sales this year — with notable markdowns on toys (-27%), electronics (-27%), and TVs (-24%).
• These figures bode well for the rest of Cyber Week, which concluded yesterday with Cyber Monday — though other industry-specific deals like Travel Tuesday could stand to benefit, too.

Rough in Retail

After a rough year for retailers, consumers didn’t just bite for the discounts — they also bit out of a little fear. WSJ reports that businesses have dog-piled onto fears of higher prices created by anticipated Trump tariffs, spurring some buying activity at retailers now.

• Trump has threatened to impose dramatic tariffs on America’s largest trading partners — which could raise the price of agricultural goods, furniture, and electronics.
• Business leaders have already warned that the price of tariffs will be passed onto consumers, with price hikes standing to reignite inflation — potentially sending it to new generational highs.

War of the worlds: Some of the moves towards e-commerce can also be credited to poorer in-person shopping experiences — with stores tightening anti-theft measures, pushing frustrated consumers towards online shopping. However, online shopping is facing rising return fraud and theft as well, prompting retailers to impose fees on returns. With all the new fees levied, consumers are becoming more selective about where they shop.