Americans Defy Expectations as Online Holiday Spending Breaks Records

By Washington Examiner Staff | Washington Examiner

Black Friday is traditionally recognized as one of the busiest shopping days in the United States, regularly resulting in millions, if not billions, of dollars’ worth of consumer purchases. The tradition continued as Black Friday consumer spending online this year reached a record $11.8 billion. 

The structure of that spending has changed in recent years as consumers have pivoted from brick-and-mortar stores and malls to online shopping. Amid economic uncertainty and affordability concerns, initial projections for consumer spending during the holiday season in the U.S. were projected to be more modest than in years past. 

For example, Tom Arnold, a finance professor at the University of Richmond, projected spending this holiday season not to be “as good a holiday season as it has been in previous years.”

“On an inflation-adjusted look, I don’t think it’s going to be as good a holiday season as it has been in previous years, and that it will be more heavily weighted towards the wealthier consumer spending, rather than the middle- and lower-income consumer,” Arnold told the Washington Examiner before Thanksgiving.

Also, in September, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey projected a 5.3% decrease in holiday spending in 2025. They claimed the steepest drop in holiday spending since the COVID-19 pandemic.

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