USA TODAY National
The supreme shopping weekend is almost here.
A record 186.9 million people are planning to shop in stores and online between Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday in 2025, up from the previous year's 183.4 million, according to an annual National Retail Federation survey.
Black Friday still reigns supreme, the survey found, with 130.4 million people (70%) reporting plans to shop that day. That's followed by Cyber Monday, when 40% of respondents, or 73.9 million people, plan to shop.
More than half of shoppers said they venture out on Black Friday for deals "too good to pass up," while others cited a love for tradition or desire to get some holiday shopping done over the long weekend.
With so many millions planning to do the bulk of their shopping over about four days, it begs the question: Is one day better than the other to shop sales? Which shopping holiday comes out on top in the matchup of Black Friday versus Cyber Monday? Here's what to know.
When is Black Friday 2025? History of shopping event.
Black Friday happens the day after Thanksgiving, which is Thursday, Nov. 27 this year, making the shopping holiday Friday, Nov. 28.
It is believed to have earned the title "Black Friday" in the 1950s when Philadelphia police coined the term to describe the chaos they observed thanks to suburban shoppers flooding the city, USA TODAY previously reported.
By 1961, the name stuck in Philly but didn't go nationwide until the late 1980s, when retailers seized the opportunity to re-frame the day as something more positive, concocting the analogy of stores going from being "in the red" (experiencing financial deficit) until the explosion of sales on the day after Thanksgiving, bringing them back into "the black" (being profitable).
When is Cyber Monday 2025? History of online shopping event.
Cyber Monday takes place on the first Monday after Thanksgiving. This year, it will fall on Monday, Dec. 1.
It originated as something of a response or complement to Black Friday, eventually becoming equally lucrative for retailers. The official term was coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005, when the organization noticed an influx in online shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving as people returned to work and used their − at the time − faster internet connections in the office versus at home to start on their holiday lists.
As with Black Friday, retailers cashed in on this by making it a full-fledged sales event, this time focusing on online shopping and sales.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are becoming one big shopping event
Once upon a time, Black Friday and Cyber Monday were two distinct events, especially when brick-and-mortar shops and in-store flash sales were more popular.
Between online shopping becoming the year-round favored method of deal-hunting for many consumers and the now-popular practice among retailers of cashing in by extending the shopping holidays into multi-day events, however, the two have become more or less enmeshed. And, the COVID-19 pandemic likely managed to push some of the last in-store holdouts to the digital space.
The shopping holidays now often segue straight into each other with no real break, like Amazon's Black Friday Week, which started early Nov. 20 and bleeds directly into its Cyber Monday sale through Dec. 1. While the deals are labeled as being part of two different events, they function as one long sale.
In some cases, the same sales may simply roll over into the "new" holiday promotion and be rebranded. In other cases, stores may choose to save certain sale types for one day or the other, so while Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have become more or less the same thing, make sure you pay attention to the official sale dates on those items you really want.
Which has better deals, Cyber Monday or Black Friday? See the data.
There's a reason Black Friday and Cyber Monday have managed to hold onto their massive sway over consumers: Some deals really are too good to pass up.
According to data compiled by Adobe Analytics, discounts rise to about 21% on average pre-Thanksgiving before peaking at 28% by Cyber Monday.
Sales on computers, apparel and other electronics are expected to reach an apex at 23-28% off on Cyber Monday, while televisions, toys, appliances and furniture will top out around 23-27% off on Black Friday.
The average Black Friday discount in 2024 was 38.2% among top retailers, according to a Capital One Shopping report, with the deepest discounts being on jewelry (average 59.7% off), apparel and accessories (36.9% off), furniture (36.1% off) and appliances (35.6% off). This year's top discounts are expected to be toys (27% off), televisions (23% off) and furniture/appliances (18% off).
Cyber Monday sales, on the other hand, were 22.2% higher than Black Friday sales in 2024, a difference of $10.8 billion. The largest average discounts for Cyber Monday 2025 are projected to be for electronics (discounted 28%) and apparel (discounted 25%). Electronics had the largest discount in 2024 (30.1% off), followed by toys (26.1% off) and apparel (23.2% off).
Adobe forecasted a record $253.4 billion in sales during the holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 31), an increase of 5.3% over last year. Cyber Monday alone is expected to drive a record $14.2 billion in sales (up 6.8% year-over-year), followed by Black Friday at $11.7 billion (up 8.3%) and Thanksgiving Day itself at $6.4 billion (up 4.9%).
Top Black Friday Deals
With a rising preference for online shopping, retailers have begun rolling out "Black Friday" deals earlier and making them run longer, giving customers more time to cash in. You can already find price cuts at a number of retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and Target. Some of the biggest deals, however, are usually reserved for the day of.
Amazon's Black Friday 2025 sale started early on Thursday, Nov. 20 and runs right into its Cyber Monday sale, with deals including up to 50% off on select Amazon devices, including Echo smart speakers, Fire Smart TVs, Fire Sticks, Kindles and Ring doorbells.
Walmart's Black Friday deals start online only from Nov. 25-27, then online and in stores from Nov. 28 through 30. Deals include up to 60% off everything from cookware and beauty products to toys and clothing.
Top Cyber Monday deals
Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday has expanded its domain past a single day.
The biggest deals from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart are often reserved for Cyber Monday itself, but are also often available for at least two days, if not a full "Cyber Week."
Amazon's Cyber Monday event is three days long, beginning on Saturday, Nov. 29 and running through Monday, Dec. 1. As usual, the sales run the gamut, including up to 50% off on tech, including JBL headphones, Canon cameras and accessories, 40% on select floorcare from Bissell and iRobot, and 80% on Kindle books and 65% on print books.
Best Buy's Cyber Monday deals run from Sunday, Nov. 30 to Monday, Dec. 1. Sneak peeks show up to 63% off Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook, HP 14" Chromebook and HP 15.6" Chromebook laptops, up to 24% off iPads and MacBooks and up to 55% off TCL 50" and Samsung 27" televisions.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Which is better, Black Friday or Cyber Monday? See what data reveals.
Reporting by Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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