Shoppers plan to cut Black Friday weekend spending

People - As the holiday shopping season starts to kick into high gear, Americans are balancing Black Friday deals with lingering concerns about their own finances. Consumers are looking to shell out less this holiday season, new data from Deloitte shows, in a reversal of previous trends. The survey shows shoppers overall plan to spend 4% less than last year between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, citing higher costs of living and more fear of the economy.

The pullback is expected from shoppers of all income levels as climbing inflation stings wallets. Consumers making less than $50,000 a year are expected to spend 12% less than last year, according to the business services firm. Shoppers making more than $200,000 a year say they’ll cut their spending by 18%. More  

WalletHub - With the hectic holiday season fast approaching, I wanted to drop you a quick note to make sure you didn’t miss any of WalletHub’s recent holiday studies and reports, highlights of which you can find below.

• JCPenney, Belk and Kohl’s are 2025’s Best Places to Shop on Black Friday, offering an average discount of at least 45%.
   
• Around 10% of items at major retailers will be more expensive on Black Friday than their current Amazon.com prices.
   
• Consumer packaged goods will offer the most value on Black Friday 2025 relative to their current prices, while furniture is expected to have the least rewarding deals.
   
• Nearly 2 in 3 Americans say the economy will make the holidays less fun this year, according to WalletHub’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey.
   
• Sephora, Target and Starbucks top the list of 2025’s Best Gift Cards.
   
• Consumers can save $200+ with one of 2025's Best Credit Cards for Holiday Shopping.
   
• Some consumers already have access to little-known credit card benefits that can come in handy over the holidays, including price-drop protection and coverage for damaged or stolen items.
   
• 100% of store credit cards do not charge an annual fee, and the average card with an initial discount for new cardholders gives 19.51% off, according to WalletHub’s 2025 Store Card Landscape Report.
   
• 80% of the major retailers offering 0% financing use a dangerous feature called deferred interest, which has the potential to make holiday purchases up to 27.5 times more expensive than expected.