The day after Thanksgiving has always been special for shoppers, but Black Friday 2024 rewrote the rulebook entirely. With online sales hitting a staggering $10.8 billion in the United States alone—marking the first time the shopping day crossed the $10 billion threshold—and global spending reaching $74.4 billion, this year’s Black Friday proved that despite economic uncertainties, consumers are ready to spend when the deals are right.
The Numbers Tell an Incredible Story
Black Friday 2024 wasn’t just another shopping day; it was a cultural phenomenon backed by jaw-dropping statistics. Online sales jumped 10.2% compared to 2023, while the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday weekend attracted an impressive 197 million shoppers across the United States. What’s particularly fascinating is how shopping behavior has evolved—while 126 million people visited physical stores (up from 121.4 million in 2023), online shopping showed even more dramatic growth rates.
Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Black Friday, Americans spent $11.3 million online every minute. Let that sink in. That’s more money changing hands in sixty seconds than most people earn in an entire year. The peak shopping frenzy demonstrated that despite the rise of early November deals and extended sales periods, Black Friday itself remains the crown jewel of holiday shopping.
Mobile Shopping Dominated Like Never Before
If you’re still shopping on your desktop computer, you’re in the minority. Mobile devices accounted for an astonishing 69% of all purchases made on Black Friday 2024, up from 68% the previous year. Shoppers made 70% of their online orders through smartphones and tablets, proving that convenience has become king in the retail world. Retailers who optimized their mobile experiences reaped the rewards, with mobile shopping accounting for $132 billion in total sales across the extended shopping weekend.
What People Bought and How Much They Saved
The hottest categories this Black Friday included electronics, toys, apparel, jewelry, and personal care products. Interestingly, beauty and wellness products outperformed traditional electronics in some markets, reflecting a growing trend toward self-care purchases. The global average discount rate sat at 26%, but makeup and cosmetics led the pack with discount rates reaching 40%.
Apparel and accessories offered the best deals overall, with discounts ranging from 11% to 23% across different product categories. The biggest savings were found on items like earrings, rings, shirts, pants, and coats. Meanwhile, higher-priced electronics like televisions and laptops offered more modest but still significant price cuts.
The Rise of Flexible Payment Options
Buy Now, Pay Later services experienced significant growth, with $686.3 million spent through these platforms—an 8.8% increase from 2023. These payment options made expensive purchases more accessible, particularly for big-ticket items like electronics and home goods. The trend signals a shift in how consumers approach holiday spending, breaking large purchases into manageable installments rather than paying everything upfront.
AI Changed the Shopping Game
Artificial intelligence played an unprecedented role in Black Friday 2024, driving over $14 billion in global online sales. Retailers that incorporated AI into their operations saw a 9% higher conversion rate compared to those that didn’t. AI-powered chatbots influenced shopping behavior significantly, with bot-driven clicks to retail sites skyrocketing by 1,800% compared to the previous year. Twenty percent of shoppers reported using chatbots to find deals, while 19% used them to search for specific items.
Looking Beyond the Day Itself
Perhaps most interesting is that Black Friday has evolved from a single-day event into an extended shopping season. Many retailers began offering Black Friday deals as early as October, with Amazon kicking off its Prime Sale Day on October 8. Despite this spread, Black Friday itself remained the biggest single shopping day, capturing consumer attention and wallets in ways that earlier sales simply couldn’t match.
As we look ahead to future Black Fridays, one thing is certain: this shopping phenomenon isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s growing stronger, more mobile-friendly, and more AI-powered with each passing year.
