Retailers rolled out early promotions to lock in sales amid muted expectations heading into the holiday season due to weak consumer confidence and tariff-fueled inflation. Yet sales data from Cyber Week — the five-day stretch including Thanksgiving and Black Friday — showed consumers largely shrugged off economic worries. Mastercard, which included sales at retail and food service establishments in its data, said sales climbed 3.9% year-over-year during the same period, topping its prior forecast of 3.6%. Both companies noted that early promotions and the convenience of shopping from home helped lift online sales, which outpaced growth at brick-and-mortar stores. Sales of electronics like TVs and smartphones led spending, rising 5.8% in Visa’s data, followed by clothing and accessories at 5.3%.

Source: The Edge Markets December 23, 2025 14:53 UTC