Black Friday used to be a cult pilgrimage: fashion-obsessed crowds camping overnight for that Gucci or grind-your-teeth-with-glee 80% off beauty haul. But lately the buzz feels more meh than madcap. In 2025, economic and cultural tides have turned deal season into something of a yawn. Stubborn inflation and higher grocery bills are forcing wallets to tighten – fully 70% of shoppers cite rising living costs (and 57% name pricier groceries) as reasons they’ll spend less this year.  In this climate, what used to feel like a daring escapade now feels more like dutiful box-checking. One survey even found 12% of consumers now flatly dismiss Cyber Week as a “scam”.

The Marathon of Markdown Mania

The sales spree itself has become a drag race with no finish line. Deals start earlier and stretch longer – some say Black Friday now begins “the moment November arrives” – so the one-day frenzy is dead.  Instead of blitzing for bargains, shoppers have adopted a marathon mindset: researching weeks in advance, browsing months on end. By Impact’s reckoning, 75% of consumers begin hunting holiday gifts before mid-November, and nearly 80% spread their purchases across the entire November–December season.  Brands have literally softened Black Friday, rolling out promotions in October and early November, which dilutes any single-day splash.  The upshot: RetailNext data show U.S. foot traffic on Black Friday 2024 actually fell 3.2% year-on-year. In other words, the one-day shopping carnival is so passé, one analyst quips that BF “takes up the majority of November” now.

This drawn-out marathon is making shoppers tune out.  Nearly half admit the avalanche of sales emails and ads drives them nuts – one report found 42% calling the volume of “exclusive” deals excessive and stressful  Consciously or not, buyers have learned to treat Black Friday like another episode of an endless series: wait for the season finale to see the real payoffs.

Clicks Not Queues: The Online Overdrive

It should surprise no one that the majority of Black Friday happens online.  DriveResearch finds 71% of shoppers plan to buy on Black Friday from their computer or phone, versus 29% hitting the stores.  Omnichannel is the new normal: about three-quarters of consumers now research and purchase online, and even among the rest many finalize their finds in-store only after browsing price histories on their phones.  In practice, this means the classic visual of stampeding consumers racing into a mall is mostly nostalgic.  Data show 74% of shoppers research and buy on the web, and only 49% wait to make an in-store purchase after online browsing.

Meanwhile retailers are hedging their bets on timing. By extending Black Friday deals into Cyber Week – or even earlier – the sense of urgency is gone.  “Many retailers have extended Black Friday deals to widen the shopping window,” observes retail-analytics firm RetailNext so the dramatic rush is replaced by a slow drip of markdowns.  The result: instead of a one-day rush, shopping is a weary slog.  Even with the power of the internet, shoppers report more efficient strategies than fanatical splurges.  In Omnisend’s November 2025 survey, experts note BFCM has turned into an exercise in planning and timing – “more about efficiency than indulgence,” as one marketer put it.  The thrill of impulse has given way to the comfort of free shipping: 68% now rank easy or free delivery as the #1 factor in a pleasant shopping experience. In short, we’ve ditched the adrenaline rush for a well-tracked bargain hunt.

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Smoke & Mirrors: The Choreographed Sale

To make matters worse, the bargain bonanza feels increasingly performative.  Shoppers don’t trust deals.  In one Lightspeed Commerce poll, 84% said they suspect retailers jack up prices beforehand to exaggerate the discount.  Pretty much no generation buys the hype: from Gen Z to boomers, most agree Black Friday savings are mostly smoke and mirrors.  For the cynical buyer this isn’t surprising: consumer watchdogs have caught 86–90% of so-called “Black Friday deals” on electronics and accessories at the same or better prices outside the sale period.  In fact, Which? found none of its sampled products was cheapest on Black Friday alone.  (One capsule fridge got cheaper just one week later for a fortnight.)  The message: genuine bargains are “few and far between”.

This discount fatigue infects even die-hard shoppers. AlixPartners reports customers across fashion and luxury are now “frustrated and increasingly fickle,” tired of “decoding pricing games” and canned promotions.  As one consultant grimly notes, when nobody believes the “up to 50% off” claims, retailers have lost their simplest lever.  In practice, 12% of consumers now think Black Friday is outright a scam.  Even the promise of exclusivity rings hollow: sales are so ubiquitous and similar that one might wonder why any discount should feel special.  Ultimately the spectacle has become a bit of a joke – consumers have wised up, and many are just waiting for the punchline.

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Fashion, Beauty & Luxury: Glamour Tired of Glitz

Unsurprisingly, the fashion, beauty and luxury sectors are especially feeling the ennui.  RetailNext reports that this year’s Black Friday gave clothing and shoes essentially a shrug: apparel foot traffic was up a mere +0.4% in stores (virtually flat), and beauty dipped 7.2%.  In plain terms, cosmetic freebies and half-off hoodies just aren’t moving crowds like they used to.  In the U.K., a Cardlytics study shows even luxury ticketholders are holding back: high-end fashion spending plunged 18.7% last year compared to 2022.  It seems the appeal of that pricey label sale is fading – only 8% of Brits say they’ll splurge on designer gifts this season, whereas almost one in five plan to shop secondhand or resale.

What does sell?  The answer leans away from splurge and toward self-care.  Personal, feel-good items are in vogue: 53% of consumers say they’ll pick “personal or practical” gifts this year  Beauty products have quietly benefited – for many, a luxe lotion feels like self-gifting, a treat that isn’t wasteful – whereas big-ticket gadgets and impulse buys have lost cachet.  A UK report notes books, crafts and cosmetics continued to rise across the season, even as electronics and “flex” items declined.  In other words, rather than grabbing an expensive gadget, shoppers are stocking up on skincare and storybooks that feel meaningful (or at least won’t go stale).

And the thrift trend is real: roughly 60% of consumers now say they’ve bought or would consider buying secondhand fashion.  The used-chic wave is no longer a fringe movement – it’s mainstream.  So when luxury brands quietly trot out a (mild) Black Friday promo, many modern buyers just roll their eyes.  After all, why not pick up a vintage piece that’s truly one-of-a-kind, instead of the same 30% “discount” as everyone else?

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Values Over Vanity: The New Currency of Cool

Underlying all this is a shift in what shoppers value.  Today’s consumers (especially younger ones) define value more by ethics, craft and authenticity than a percent-off tag.  Studies emphasize that where price used to reign, now “quality, service and authenticity” rule.  Fashion and beauty buyers are way savvier: they’d rather pay full price for something worth it than gamble on something cheap and shoddy.  AlixPartners even labels modern beauty shoppers as “Consumer PhDs” who vet ingredients and demand science-backed efficacy – they don’t have patience for hyped-up hype.

The optics of Black Friday don’t help either.  In recent years consumers have become accustomed to calling out greenwashing and waste.  Environmental and ethical critiques have proliferated (on TikTok and beyond): blogs note that the “eco-friendly” spin some brands put on sales often feels hollow and performs like marketing, not real sustainability.  One notorious stat (often shared by eco-outlets) claimed 80% of Black Friday purchases end up trashed after one use – a testament to the guilt that can follow frenzied buying.  In this climate, many shoppers would rather vote with their wallets: skipping the whole circus.  Indeed, labels like “Green Friday” or “Buy Nothing Day” are cropping up as conscious antidotes.

Meanwhile the pandemic-style fatigue on constant consumption means people feel less defined by “what they own.”  The old capitalist pitch that buying more makes us happier seems quaint, even vapid.  With paychecks stretched and social media full of savvy commentary, shoppers now prize stuff that lasts.  As one global survey put it, almost two-thirds of consumers regularly question the value of sales prices, and over half believe the thing they really want probably won’t be on offer.  In short, Black Friday has lost its magic cloak: savvy buyers know real deals are rare, and hype is cheap.

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The (After)math of Apathetic Shopping

So here we are, in the era of Black Friday fatigue.  The once-riveting weekend of frenzy feels now like a tired routine.  Savvy shoppers do their research months ahead, hunt for lasting value rather than a fleeting thrill, and many have tuned out the hype altogether.  Even as 48% still plan some Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping(up to 68% among Gen Z), their approach is clinically disenchanted: doorbuster bargains now come with a side of eye-rolls.  For retailers, the prescription is clear: transparency and trust trump any gimmick.  As Lightspeed’s CEO put it, “clarity” about prices and fit is the new sales strategy in a tight economy.

For the rest of us, perhaps the real luxury is walking away.  Skip the queue, close the tab, and imagine a world where getting what you need doesn’t require a November frenzy.  After all, if everyone sees through the act, maybe the greatest deal is simply opting out of the performance.