Last weekend’s Black Friday (Nov 28, 2025) felt more like a game of chicken than a shopping spree. Retailers held off on big markdowns, while deal-hungry shoppers dug in their heels, waiting for deeper price cuts 🤯.
Shopping dashboards show only 20% of U.S. buyers used Black Friday as their main launchpad for gifts. Most (59%) started hunting earlier, and 22% are waiting until the last minute. Traditional mega-sales are losing their magic ✨.
Economy jitters are real. A recent Conference Board survey found the Consumer Confidence Index dipped to 88.7 in November—its lowest since April—saving rates are up, and job worries are keeping wallets tight 💸.
Trust issues are at an all-time high. A Lightspeed Commerce poll says 84% of shoppers believe retailers jack up prices pre-sale to hype discounts. A WalletHub review of 3,100 items found 36% of Black Friday offers gave no real savings, and 10% were pricier than before. Sneaky AI pricing engines — which show different base prices to different shoppers — make spotting a true deal feel like decoding a secret language 🤖🔍.
Consumers aren’t just waiting — they’re policing. On Reddit, one user tracked 50 mega-deals and flagged most as scams, noting many items were cheaper weeks ago. Another post revealed a TV touted at $536 (down from $860) actually sold for $485 in August. Talk about FOMO gone wrong 😬.
It’s AI vs AI out there. Retailers lean on AI for dynamic pricing and personalization, while shoppers turn to generative AI tools to sniff out real deals. Deloitte’s 2025 holiday survey shows 33% of buyers plan to use generative AI for purchases — and that jumps to 43% among Gen Z. More than half of AI users rely on these bots to compare prices and verify promos 🤖 vs. 🤖.
On the retailer side, economic pressure is mounting. Tariffs on imported goods soared from 2.4% at the start of 2025 to 17.9% by October, per Yale’s Budget Lab. Some brands — like Upstream Brands, known on Amazon — have had to scrap discounts entirely to cope 🚚📈.
People are tightening up. Deloitte found that shoppers plan to spend an average of $622 during Black Friday–Cyber Monday (down 4% from last year) — the first drop in four years. A whopping 77% expect prices to rise overall, while 57% anticipate the economy to weaken further 😳.
And don’t forget the scams. NordVPN noted a 620% surge in phishing emails and a 250% jump in fake e-commerce sites using AI to impersonate top retailers with convincing (but fake) reviews. Stay sharp and double-check those URLs ⚠️.
So where does that leave us? A discount stalemate, where retailers and shoppers keep posturing, and neither side wants to blink. If you’re hunting for deals, arm yourself with price trackers, AI assistants, and a healthy dose of skepticism — or consider waiting for the next big sale closer to year-end in our region, like 12.12 or New Year flash events 🗓️💡.
Happy (and safe) shopping, fam! 🛒🎉
Reference(s):
U.S. retailers, customers face off in Black Friday stalemate
cgtn.com
