Survey: Most consumers to maintain 2024 spending levels on Black Friday, Cyber Monday
Amid high prices, U.S. consumers are largely remaining cautious about their spending ahead of shopping holidays.
According to the latest edition of Wunderkind’s U.S. Tariff Survey Series, 31% of shoppers plan to spend less than last year on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, compared to the 23% who expect to spend more. The remaining half say they intend to maintain similar spending levels compared to last year.
Consumers across the U.S. plan to spend nearly $80 billion online and in-store during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, an increase of about $20 billion compared to 2024, according to recent data from Omnisend.
Over one-third (34%) of consumers surveyed by Wunderkind said they began holiday shopping in October or earlier. However, nearly one-quarter (23%) plan to wait until Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop for gifts, with Gen Z (32%) most heavily leaning into late-season purchases. Apparel and shoes (41%) rank as the top purchase category for the two shopping holidays, followed by toys/video games (31%) and electronics (30%).
While 35% of shoppers plan to shop mostly online, an almost equal share (36% ) intend to mix channels and participate in both. Baby boomers (40%), perhaps surprisingly, will be the most digitally-reliant this holiday season, preferring online shopping for ease and predictability. In-store enthusiasm is climbing among younger groups, as 27% of both millennials and Gen Z say they will shop mostly in stores.
[READ MORE: Survey: Shoppers get into holiday spirit, find better deals by shopping in stores]
AI adoption is expected to grow this holiday season, according to the survey. Just over half of shoppers (53%) now use regularly/occasionally or plan to use AI to discover savings. However, over half (56%) of baby boomers say they've never used AI for deals, which Wunderkind says reflects trust and familiarity gaps rather than lack of interest.
Wunderkind’s report is based on survey data collected Oct. 27-28, 2025, from 324 U.S. consumers, evenly split across genders and adult age groups.
