Black Friday 2025 has come, and it is the single biggest day for retailers all year. Black Friday always falls on the day after Thanksgiving, and it symbolically marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. CapitalOne has a shopping research division that reported on Black Friday impacts last year. Here are some key takeaways from Black Friday 2024:
- 131.7 million Americans made retail purchases
- 10.2% increase in e-commerce revenue from Black Friday 2023
- 87.3 million Americans made online purchases
- Average shoppers spend $650 during Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sales period
- The average discount in 2024 was 38.2%
- Online revenue reported to be $10.8 billion with projections of 11.7 billion this year
Additionally, the most popular stores were Walmart and Target last year by a large margin. This makes sense as they are very large retailers, but many other popular stores saw considerable increases in sales. This data highlights how important Black Friday is for many retailers. Almost all large and small retailers offer some type of promotion for the weekend, which greatly encourages consumers spending. The margins are often smaller for retailers on Thanksgiving weekend, but pure sales volume makes up for the tighter margins.
What to Expect from Black Friday 2025?
This Black Friday could be the largest day for consumer spending ever. The National Retail Federation (NRF), a private company that is the world’s largest retail trade association, made projections for Black Friday 2025. They project that the number of potential shoppers could be up to 186.9 million this holiday weekend. The estimate included a potential 130.4 million shoppers on Black Friday alone. If these numbers are correct, this would break last year’s record of 183.4 million shoppers over Thanksgiving weekend. Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday also fall during Thanksgiving weekend, which is expected to see 67 million shoppers and 73.9 million shoppers respectively. These are significantly less than Black Friday. Charitable giving is also expected to increase over the weekend with 67% of shoppers planning to give to at least one charitable activity this holiday season.
The NRF is forecasting that the total 2025 holiday spending will top $1 Trillion for the first time. This level of economic activity is paramount for retailers. Retailers typically report the highest levels of revenue during the holiday season. Gift giving and personal shopping fuels this spending craze, and steep discounts make Thanksgiving weekend the perfect time to shop. No matter if you are shopping online or in-person, there are certainly great deals waiting for you this holiday season.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy the weekend of savings!
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