U.S. Black Friday shoppers pushed retail sales higher this year, blending deal-hunting with experience-driven spending and a growing shift online. According to preliminary Mastercard SpendingPulse insights, **U.S. retail sales excluding autos were up +4.1% on Black Friday, November 28, 2025, compared with Black Friday 2024, as consumers navigated promotions with notable savviness.
Apparel Leads as Shoppers Refresh Wardrobes
This year’s Black Friday story is one of comfort, connection, and practical indulgence, with shoppers preparing for gatherings while keeping an eye on value. Apparel spending proved especially strong, with overall apparel sales climbing +5.7% — including +6.1% online and +5.4% in-store, helped by chilly weather and aggressive fashion promotions. Jewelry also delivered growth, with sales up around +2.75% and online jewelry spending rising +4.2%, as shoppers chose “gifts that shine” for the holidays.
Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute, said, “Consumers are showing incredible savviness this season. They’re navigating an uncertain environment by shopping early, leveraging promotions, and investing in wish-list items.” That mix of caution and confidence is shaping how and where shoppers spend, with many prioritizing wardrobe updates and meaningful gifts while sticking closely to advertised deals.
E-Commerce Jumps as Stores Still Matter
Online channels were the clear standout, with e-commerce retail sales ex-autos jumping +10.4% year over year as consumers leaned into speed, convenience, and at-home deal discovery. In-store sales still grew, but at a more modest +1.7%, highlighting that brick-and-mortar remains critical for tactile experiences, try-ons, and immediate gratification.
Restaurant spending also moved higher, with restaurants up around +4.5%, reflecting how dining out has become part of the holiday ritual for many households. Regionally, spending outperformed in parts of New England, the Midwest, and the Southeast, where colder temperatures likely boosted demand for cold‑weather apparel and outerwear.
Holiday Momentum Meets Rising Fraud Risks
The Mastercard SpendingPulse data highlight how technology is reshaping the way people pay, with seamless digital checkouts across smartphones and connected devices making holiday shopping feel faster and more intuitive. At the same time, the surge in online activity has opened more doors for scams and counterfeit goods, putting fraud prevention in sharp focus for both retailers and shoppers.
Mastercard research cited in the release shows that 72% of consumers have shopped on unfamiliar websites, even though many say they try to avoid them. The biggest red flags shoppers report include prices that seem too good to be true, poor spelling or grammar, and requests for unnecessary personal information, yet nearly 1 in 5 have had items that never arrived, and about 16% have received counterfeit products in past holiday seasons.
Smarter Shopping and Safer Checkouts
To keep the holiday period “joyful and safe,” Mastercard encourages consumers to stick to trusted retailers, use secure payment methods, and immediately report suspicious activity to their bank or card provider. Those behaviors, combined with Mastercard’s advanced fraud‑prevention tools that monitor transactions and risk signals in real time, aim to protect shoppers even as online spending reaches new highs.
Mastercard SpendingPulse measures national retail sales—both in-store and online—across all payment types, offering a broad view of how Americans are actually spending rather than just how they say they plan to. For retailers, the +4.1% Black Friday gain is an encouraging signal that, despite economic jitters, U.S. consumers are still willing to show up for the right products, prices, and experiences this holiday season.
