Black Friday sales jumped more than 4% from last year, with online spending hitting a record $11.8 billion. Analysts expect another surge for Cyber Monday. Kelly O'Grady has tips on how to find the best deals.

Chicago

Black Friday sales surpassed forecasts, with overall sales rising by more than 4% and online spending reaching a record $11.8 billion, a 9% increase over the previous year. Key drivers included consumers opting for higher-priced items due to significant discounts, increased use of buy now, pay later services, and a major boost in traffic from AI-driven shopping tools.

Looking ahead, Cyber Monday sales are projected to hit $14.2 billion, with electronics and tech products among the most sought-after deals. Shoppers are encouraged to check major retailers for further discounts, review items already in their carts, and ensure they can meet payment obligations, especially when using buy now, pay later options.

Here's how to find the best Cyber Monday deals

So Black Friday sales beat expectations. Overall sales jumped more than 4%, with online spending hitting a record $11.8 billion. Now, it's Cyber Monday, and analysts expect another big surge. Money Watch correspondent Kelly O'Grady is here. So Kelly, they were expecting that people would scale back, pull back this weekend. That wasn't the case. So why, and then also, what do you expect today on Cyber Monday? So yet again, the holidays prove the thing that people are willing to spend on, even when confidence has been your record low. That $11.8 billion that you mentioned, it was 9% up versus last year. So that's really strong. A couple of things drove that. One, people actually traded up to higher ticket items, the data shows, because the discounts were so good. They felt like they were getting a good deal. You talked about that. Yeah, right? There, you know, people be spending. The second thing is consumers were stretching themselves, because buy now, pay later usage was also up 9%. And then finally, AI was a big driver. People used those chatbots I was talking about. Those links came up, and then that drove traffic over 800% versus last year from those AI sites, right? So that was a big factor this year. Cyber Monday, we're expecting another record. A lot of closed doors as people are shopping in their offices, right? $14.2 billion in sales is expected. So you always give good advice. What should people do today to look for those deals? Okay, it's all about electronics and tech. Check out the big retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, Target. Also check for some items that maybe you had in your cart, because some places are gonna offer even further discounts. And then of course, you know, it's not a deal unless you really need it. So make sure you can pay it off. And if you're using buy now, pay later, you can hit those payment dates. That's the best advice. All right, Kelly, thank you.

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