U.S. Black Friday 2025 broke records — sort of. According to Adobe Analytics, online sales hit $11.8 billion on Black Friday — a 9.1% increase from last year. Investing.com Meanwhile, Salesforce reported roughly $18 billion in U.S. online Black Friday sales. TechCrunch
But if you dig deeper — into what shoppers actually bought and how they bought it — the story gets more complicated.
Black Friday 2025 Dollars ≠ Units: Inflation and Spending Patterns Shift
Yes: more dollars were spent. But consumers purchased fewer items per transaction and overall order volumes dropped, according to Salesforce. Retail Dive
- Units per transaction were down ~2% compared to last year. Retail Dive
- Order volume decreased about 1%. Retail Dive
- Meanwhile, average selling prices (ASP) rose ~7%. Forbes
In short: inflation, tariffs, and rising price tags — especially on electronics, luxury items, and other discretionary goods — likely drove up the total dollar spend, even as consumer “buying power” (in terms of quantity) receded.
That means headlines about “record Black Friday sales” obscure a critical truth: many households are buying less — or waiting — because prices are higher.
Cyber Monday & Cyber-Week: The Surge Continued (But Underneath the Surface)
The strong Black Friday performance carried into Cyber Monday and the broader Cyber-Week. Early reports from Adobe projected that U.S. online Cyber Monday shopping would push the five-day Thanksgiving–Cyber Monday window well beyond 2024 totals.
Still, even as total online spending climbs, the same pattern of higher prices and lower unit volumes persists: a signal that many consumers are trading quantity for perceived value, or stretching budgets to get “good enough” deals. Forbes
Retail analysts and insiders are already calling this “the new normal.” As one noted: “Black Friday that we have come to know and love has changed.” Retail Dive
The Boycott: We Ain’t Buying It / Big Beautiful Boycott and the “Spending Shutdown”
Not everyone celebrated the shopping surge. A coalition of community groups, faith leaders, and activists launched coordinated consumer-boycott calls timed with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Word In Black
- The We Ain’t Buying It campaign called for a “mass boycott” of large-chain retailers and online shopping from Nov. 25 through Dec. 1.
- Some aligned with the Big Beautiful Boycott, a nonpartisan movement that frames each purchase (or withheld purchase) as a political act — “every dollar is a choice.” bigbeautifulboycott.us
- Organizers urged participants to either:
- buy only from small or Black-owned businesses, or
- skip big-box and corporate retailers entirely (including no online purchases on Cyber Monday).
Supporters argue this “economic blackout” is a practical way to redirect wealth and show collective power. Critics — including many retail analysts — say measuring real impact is hard: these campaigns often rely on voluntary participation, and it’s unclear how many people follow through.
As of now, even with record dollars spent, the drop in units and volume may indicate that many everyday consumers — especially those feeling inflation and debt pressures — simply opted out or scaled back. In that sense, the boycott’s moral argument intersects with real constraints.
Household Debt & Consumer Fragility: Money Is Tight
The backdrop to all this shopping is a fragile consumer economy. According to the latest from Bankrate, nearly half (46%) of American credit-card holders carried a balance in 2025 — meaning they did not pay off their card entirely at the end of the month. Bankrate
Meanwhile, total U.S. household debt remains massive. As of Q2 2025, total outstanding household debt stood near $18.4 trillion, including mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and credit-card balances. WalletHub
This debt burden — combined with rising prices and economic uncertainty — means many consumers are not buying because they want to, but because they feel squeezed. For a considerable portion of Americans, Black Friday sales may feel less like a treat and more like a pressure.
What It All Means — For Consumers and Retailers
✅ For Consumers
- Be deliberate. The surge in dollar-spent doesn’t mean deals are better — often, they’re just masking higher base prices.
- Prioritize needs vs. wants. If you carry credit-card debt (like 46% of Americans), adding more purchases may compound the burden.
- Consider alternatives. Supporting small, local, or minority-owned businesses — as some boycott movements suggest — may offer more community value than chasing flashy sales.
📉 For Retailers & the Market
- Retailers may chalk the record dollar numbers to “success,” but lower unit volume signals weaker underlying demand. That raises questions about how sustainable this growth really is.
- “Discount fatigue” may be setting in. With flat discount rates and rising prices, deals feel less compelling — especially to cost-conscious shoppers. Retail Dive
- Credit-based buying (credit card + BNPL) could mask real demand. This may inflate short-term sales at the expense of long-term consumer financial health — and future demand.
Conclusion: A Record — But Not a Recovery
Yes, Black Friday 2025 delivered record-breaking dollar figures. But beneath the headline lies a different reality: inflation, price increases, shrinking buying power, and growing household debt. Combine that with a rising tide of consumer activism urging intentional spending — and the conclusion becomes complicated.
What looks like robust demand may actually be financial strain cloaked in holiday packaging. As a shopper — or consumer storyteller — it’s worth asking: are we celebrating success — or ignoring signals of systemic stress?
If things continue this way, next year’s “record Black Friday” might feel hollower than this one.
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