Holiday season is fast-approaching\u2014and so is the biggest shopping season of the year. Black Friday is just 23 days away, a day synonymous with deal-chasing and a widespread shop-til-you-drop attitude among consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Black Friday will look a little different this year, a new survey shows. Instead of cashing in on discounts for mega TVs and luxury appliances, consumers this year are just trying to get by. Spending priorities are shifting because inflation has hit consumers so hard<\/a> in 2025 that one in four consumers say they plan to use Black Friday only for everyday essentials like groceries, toiletries, and household basics, according to survey<\/a> results released by point-of-sale and payments system platform Lightspeed.<\/p>\n \u201cBlack Friday is still a make-or-break moment for retailers, but shopper behavior is shifting,\u201d Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed Commerce, said in a statement. \u201cShoppers are still under the pressure of a higher cost of living, so fairness, transparency, and empathy matter more than ever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lightspeed surveyed 3,000 adults in the U.S. and Canada for the study, and found nearly half of respondents said they plan to split spending between necessities and premium purchases.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although President Donald Trump claims to have \u201cdefeated\u201d inflation<\/a>, claiming in September at the United Nations General Assembly grocery prices are down, there\u2019s not much evidence for that. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a high-profile speech in August just before the first rate cut this year \u201cinflation, though still somewhat elevated, has come down from its post-pandemic highs.\u201d<\/p>\n But other industry experts and economists argue grocery prices could continue to rise\u2014and even double. Raymond Robertson, a labor economist at Texas A&M\u2019s Bush School of Government who has advised U.S. agencies on trade and labor policy, recently told Fortune\u2019s Eva Roytberg<\/a> a wave of grocery-price increases will likely hit this winter. He also predicts prices for produce could jump anywhere from 50% to 100% by early next year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is like when you see a flood coming, the tsunami is coming in, and the water\u2019s gone up two inches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Back in spring, Walmart<\/a> CEO Doug McMillon said customers were exhibiting \u201cstressed behaviors.\u201d<\/a> This was the same time period consumer confidence hit a 12-year low<\/a>. \u201cYou can see that the money runs out before the month is gone, you can see that people are buying smaller pack sizes at the end of the month,\u201d McMillon said.<\/p>\n But what should be even more concerning for retailers is the finding that consumers don\u2019t really trust most Black Friday discounts are authentic.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lightspeed survey shows 84% of shoppers believe retailers inflate prices ahead of the sales to exaggerate discounts. That\u2019s somewhat reminiscent of when, earlier this fall, Target<\/a> and Walmart employees alleged the retailer forced them to remove price tags<\/a> to make it easier to change prices based on tariffs.<\/p>\n \u201cConsumers are buying fast and deciding later, so it\u2019s up to retailers to guide that journey. The best way to do that is with clarity\u2014showing what discounts really mean, being upfront about fit and product details, and keeping customers informed on delivery and stock,\u201d Lightspeed\u2019s Dasilva said. \u201cWhen shoppers feel confident, they buy smarter and return less. In a tight economy, transparency is the strongest sales strategy retailers have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holiday season is fast-approaching\u2014and so is the biggest shopping season of the year. 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