CNN
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Although retailers offered holiday discounts earlier than usual this year, U.S. consumers shopped more on Black Friday than on previous days.

Brick-and-mortar and online retail sales rose 3.4% year-over-year on Black Friday, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.

“Shoppers are making the most of seasonal offers and enjoying a balance of experiential spending and gifts for loved ones,” Steve Sadove, senior advisor at Mastercard, said in a press release. “However, they are being more strategic about their purchases and prioritizing promotions that they believe will have the most value – opening their wallets but with more targeted distribution.”

More people turned to online stores on Friday, while in-store sales rose less than 1% year-on-year. According to Mastercard, online sales increased 14.6% compared to last year. Although the warm weather continued into the fall, clothing remained popular with online shoppers.

According to Mastercard, there was a spike in grocery spending in the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, and people spent a lot of money at restaurants the day after Thanksgiving.

According to Adobe Analytics, online shoppers spent $10.8 billion on Friday, compared to $9.8 billion in 2023. Shoppers set a record this week by spending $6.1 billion on Thanksgiving Day. dollars spent.

However, Adobe expects Cyber ​​Monday to be the biggest shopping day of the year. Shoppers are estimated to spend a record $13.2 billion, up 6.1% from last year.

Shopify, an e-commerce website, reported that it set a new record for its Black Friday sales, which reached $5 billion worldwide. The average cart price for U.S. shoppers was about $157, with many looking for products like T-shirts, skin care and vitamins.

The National Retail Federation estimated in October that Americans would spend $902 per person on gifts, food, decorations and other items during the holiday season – $25 per person more than last year and $16 more than the 2019 record – but economists did not expect anything extraordinary to happen this week.

The NRF estimated that shoppers would spend $261 on food, candy, decorations and other holiday items.

Mastercard said jewelry, electronics and clothing were the top purchases on Black Friday, with consumers benefiting from big discounts.

But great deals don’t always mean high quality. Flora Bagenal, producer of the Netflix series “Buy Now!” In this documentary, CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield said on Saturday that these electronics, toys and clothing items are mass-produced and eventually thrown away by consumers. This creates a cycle of overconsumption that harms the environment.

“Then consumers have a little more power to make more decisions about the things we buy,” she said. “Just don’t fall for things that probably won’t last.”