Data shows Black Friday spending rose 3.4% year-over-year, Reuters reports

Black Friday spending in U.S. retail stores was muted this year in contrast to a more robust rise online, as bargain-hungry Americans skipped stores in favor of their phones and laptops, according to data from Mastercard (MA) and other data providers, Reuters’ Ananya Department store chains such as Macy’s (M) and Kohl’s (KSS) as well as big-box retailer Target (TGT) could see muted sales this season, which is shorter with only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sales at Best Buy (BBY) and Target on Friday were relatively flat year-over-year, according to Facteus. U.S. shoppers’ strong purchases online from mobile phones, laptops, desktops and other devices potentially favored e-commerce giants such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT). E-commerce retailers including Shein, PDD‘s (PDD) Temu, and TikTok Shop also showed strong growth in sales in the seven days through Friday, compared to a year earlier, Facteus said. Overall spending on Friday rose 3.4% year-over-year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, the authors note.