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Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, Black Friday is set to be a record-breaking day in the consumer market, signaling a rosier outlook from American shoppers on the state of the economy.
According to the National Retail Federation, an all-time high of 186.9 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, based on their data.
The number of projected shoppers is up by three million from last year.
“The holidays are an important part of many consumers’ budgets, and that trend is especially true this season,” said NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen in a statement.
She continued, “As a record number of shoppers are expected this Thanksgiving weekend, retailers are prepared to meet the needs of consumers with great value and convenience.”
The number of shoppers has risen steadily since 2020, during the Covid pandemic, when shoppers dipped to 156.6 million, likely due to restrictive social distancing policies. Otherwise, the overall number of shoppers in the U.S. has steadily risen almost every year since, but 2025 stands to be the biggest yet.
According to NRF data, most promotional sales this week span five days – from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday – but the traditional Black Friday sales are the most popular shopping day for most Americans (70 percent).
What are this year’s top items for gifting? Clothing and accessories (50 percent), gift cards (43 percent), and toys (32 percent). The NRF also projected, based on its survey data, that holiday spending in America this year will exceed $1 trillion in November and December – another record high.
These projected sales come amid Thanksgiving grocery prices at their cheapest-ever levels, brought to Americans courtesy of the Trump administration’s economic policies.
As reported by RSBN, the price of traditional Thanksgiving food has dropped significantly from last year, when Joe Biden was in office, standing at just $55.18 to feed up to 10 people this holiday season.