Black Friday takes on new importance as shoppers prioritize smart spending

2025 has been a year of sweeping change — both technologically thanks to AI, and economically as President Trump’s tariffs reshape the landscape of global trade. Not surprisingly, all this change has also shifted consumers’ shopping behaviors, and new research from consulting firm BCG showcases exactly how that’s playing out this holiday season.
The findings underscore the driven, deal-seeking behavior that consumers are bringing to this holiday season, something that has already been widely seen this year, as early as Amazon’s July Prime Day event. But while holiday shopping has been creeping earlier into the year for some time now, what’s becoming clear this year is that consumers are so intent on finding the best deals and saving money that they are willing to wait to buy — in particular for major holiday sales events like Black Friday — and they are drawing on the impressive research and deductive powers of AI to help them find the right time and place.