The CRO Coach: What Really Changed on Black Friday 2025?

What Really Changed on Black Friday?

According to analysts, there's been. a Big Shift From 2024 → 2025

Black Friday isn’t just an annual shopping event anymore. It now servces a real-time indicator of how consumers behave, how technology reshapes purchasing decisions, and how fast the digital commerce landscape is evolving.

Black Friday 2025 in the U.S. made one thing unmistakably clear:

The old playbooks has been reinvented and it will keep toing.

Digital behavior is rewriting everything.

This year’s results weren’t just “up”, they revealed a fundamental shift in how Americans shop, spend, discover, and decide.

See the breakdown of the biggest transformations from 2024 to 2025. Here is what leaders, founders, retailers, marketers, and strategists need to internalize now to stay ahead.

1. A Record-Breaking Year… But With a Twist

💰 U.S. consumers spent a record-breaking $11.8 billion online on Black Friday 2025.A +9.1% increase from 2024.That’s not growth — that’s acceleration.

But here’s the nuance most people will miss:

➡️ Salesforce reported that the average selling price rose 7%, while➡️ the number of items purchased per transaction fell 2%.

Yes, people spent more, but they bought less.

This is inflation talking.

This is a price-driven “increase,” not a pure volume-driven one.

Still, it signals one powerful behavioral truth:

Consumers are prioritizing VALUE, not volume.They’re buying intentionally, not impulsively.They’re investing, not stocking up.

2. Mobile Aims to Take the Checkout Crown

We’ve been predicting this moment for years, and now it’s here:

Mobile wasn’t just big, it dominated.

📲 $6.5 billion in Black Friday online sales came from mobile. That’s 55.2% of all online spending.

For the first time, mobile is projected to outperform desktop for the entire holiday season, not just for browsing, but for checkout.

This matters for every retailer and brand because:

✨ Mobile shoppers move fast

✨ Mobile shoppers compare quickly

✨ Mobile shoppers abandon carts even faster

✨ And mobile-first experiences win

If your funnel, checkout, or content aren’t mobile-optimized by now?You’re not just losing sales — you’re invisible.

3. In-Store Foot Traffic? Mixed, and Meaningful

Depending on which data source you cite:

• RetailNext: Foot traffic fell 3.6%

• Pass_by: Foot traffic rose 1.17%

What does that mean?

➡️ Consumers will still go in-store, but only for the right reasons.

➡️ The discretionary “browse” shopper is disappearing.

➡️ Hybrid shopping (research online → buy in store) continues to rise.

Brick-and-mortar isn’t dying.But it’s being rewritten.

The future store must be:

• Experience-first

• Seamless

• Fast

• Empowered by tech

• Deeply integrated with digital ecosystems

Shoppers aren’t wandering.They’re hunting.

4. The Categories That Ruled Black Friday 2025 🛍️

This year’s winners tell an important story about identity, lifestyle, and economic priorities.

Top-Selling Categories

🧴 Cosmetics & Clothing

👜 Luxury Apparel & Accessories

🧸 Toys (LEGO sets, MrBeast Lab Toys)

🎧 Electronics (gaming consoles, AirPods)

🏡 Appliances (KitchenAid, Dyson Airwrap)

What’s the pattern?

➡️ Items tied to self-expression, home life, and everyday functionality took the lead.

➡️ “Small luxuries” and “smart investments” are outperforming trendy throwaway items.

Consumers aren’t just buying things —They’re buying upgrades to their identity and lifestyle.

5. BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) is a Power Player 💳

BNPL wasn’t just present, it was a force.

✨ BNPL drove $747.5 million in online spend on Black Friday✨ Up 8.9% year-over-year

In a high-inflation environment, this makes sense.

BNPL gives consumers:

• Predictable payments

• Smaller financial hits

• The psychological ease of flexibility

• Permission to stretch budgets strategically

For retailers, BNPL is becoming a conversion tool — not a “nice to have.”

Watch this trend accelerate through 2026.

6. The AI Referral Explosion: +800% in One Year 🤖

This is the most important trend nobody is talking about enough.

Traffic referrals from AI platforms (including LLMs like ChatGPT, shopping assistants, and AI-powered search) grew by:

🔥 More than 800% compared to 2024.

This is the beginning of a larger shift:

• We’re moving from Search → Recommendation.

• From browsing → asking.

• From SEO → AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization).

Consumers are no longer waiting for ads or Googling product lists.They’re asking AI:

• “What’s the best gift for my sister?”

• “What’s a great Black Friday deal on AirPods?”

• “What’s the most reliable blender under $200?”

And AI is shaping the funnel in real time.

If you’re a marketer and your brand isn’t training AI tools with the right data, product clarity, and attributes?

You're already behind.

7. The Bigger Picture: What It Means for the Rest of the Season

Black Friday is always the opening signal, and this year it’s signaling a massive holiday season.

Cyber Monday Forecast

💥 Expected to hit $14.2 billion in sales— the biggest online shopping day ever recorded.

Holiday Season Outlook

• The National Retail Federation projects U.S. holiday spending (Nov–Dec) to surpass $1 trillion for the first time.

• But growth is slowing.Consumers are spending, but they’re cautious.Intentional.Strategic.

• This is not the carefree, high-volume consumer of 2019.This is the value-driven, research-heavy, AI-assisted shopper of 2025.

So… What Does All of This Mean? 🔮

If you’re a brand, founder, retailer, or marketer — you’re living in a completely new environment.

Here’s the shift in one sentence:

Black Friday 2025 proved that the future belongs to brands that optimize for mobile behavior, AI-driven discovery, flexible payments, and value-based purchasing.

Not next year.Not “someday.”Right now.

Consumer behaviors are changing, radically.

And the brands that recognize this first will take the biggest share of the wins in 2026.

If you want the full visual breakdown, I created an infographic that summarizes these shifts in a clean, data-packed format.

📊 Save it. Share it. Use it in your planning for 2026.

What trend surprised you the most this year?

Drop it in the comments. 💬