Fashion
Results are in: US Black Friday store visits down, e-visits up, apparel shines
Published
December 1, 2025
US Black Friday retail sales rose 4.1%, Mastercard SpendingPulse has revealed. But while online surged, in-store visitor traffic was down a separate report from RetailNext showed. That said, both reports showed a better result for apparel than for other sectors.
First, the Mastercard numbers. They exclude autos and are based on the payment cards giant measuring in-store and online retail sales across all payment types.
The company said this year’s event “tells a story of comfort, connection, and savvy shopping” as consumers prepared for meaningful moments with family and friends.
Spending growth on apparel was particularly strong both online and in-store, “suggesting shoppers refreshed wardrobes while leaning into value-driven choices and convenience”.
In fact, apparel climbed 5.7% (online 6.1%, in-store 5.4%), as “chilly temperatures and seasonal deals encouraged spending on new fashions”. Jewelry also rose 2.75% (online 4.2%), “as consumers opted for gifts that shine”.
Overall, e-commerce retail sales excluding autos jumped 10.4%, “as shoppers increasingly value speed and convenience”. In-store sales grew more modestly (1.7%) but “remain essential to consumers for tactile experiences”.
Mastercard also said the surge in online shopping “showcases how technology is transforming the way consumers pay. Shoppers are enjoying seamless checkout experiences across devices, from smartphones to connected home assistants, making holiday shopping faster, safer, and more intuitive than ever before”.
Which leads us on the that drop for in-store shopping traffic. RetailNext said initial data reveals an average of a 5.3% year-over-year decrease for foot traffic across Black Friday and Saturday.
Visitor numbers dropped 3.6% on Friday itself and a massive 8.6% on Saturday. By store type, apparel stores saw traffic down 2.3% across the two days with just a 0.7% drop on Friday and 5.3% on Saturday.
For footwear, the weekend, Friday and Saturday falls were 6%, 6% and 5.9%, respectively. For healthy & beauty they were drops of 4.7%, 2.1% and 9.6%, and for jewelry they were 3.6%, 2% and 6.6%.
“Black Friday 2025 didn’t kill the holiday; it changed how shoppers approached it,” said Joe Shasteen, Global Head of Advanced Analytics at RetailNext. “Foot traffic was down on Friday and on Saturday, but that wasn’t disinterest, it was intention. Shoppers showed they’re done with the impulse-driven, one-day frenzy. Prices, tariffs, and tighter budgets pushed people to shop with discipline, not adrenaline, and they responded by turning Black Friday into a value calculation”.
RetailNext said one of the clearest signals is the 3.6% drop on Black Friday, which was meaningfully better than the 6.2% decline seen from Sunday through Wednesday (23 November to 26 November). It shows that even in a cautious year, “shoppers are still willing to attend major promotional events; they’re simply being more selective about when those events are worth the trip”.
“Despite the declines, Black Friday again delivered the highest in-store traffic of any day this year, reaffirming its role as the anchor of the holiday shopping season, but the weekend’s performance was shaped more by real-world factors than waning interest,” added Shasteen. “Consumers are still willing to shop, they’re just demanding proof it’s worth leaving the house. Retailers who treated November as a month-long build, rather than a single-day spectacle, saw the strongest in-store performance.”
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Global growth is projected to remain broadly steady over the next two years, easing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 before rising to 2.7 per cent in 2027, an upward revision from the June forecast.
World economy is proving more resilient than anticipated despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty, the World Bank said.
Global growth is projected to stay broadly steady over the next two years, easing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 before rising to 2.7 per cent in 2027.
Global inflation is projected to edge down to 2.6 per cent in 2026, reflecting softer labour markets and lower energy prices.
The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth, especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026.
Even so, if these forecasts hold, the 2020s are on track to be the weakest decade for global growth since the 1960s.
The sluggish pace is widening the gap in living standards across the world, the report says.
In 2025, growth was supported by a surge in trade ahead of policy changes and swift readjustments in global supply chains. These boosts are expected to fade in 2026 as trade and domestic demand soften.
However, the easing global financial conditions and fiscal expansion in several large economies should help cushion the slowdown, a World Bank release said citing the report.
Global inflation is projected to edge down to 2.6 per cent in 2026, reflecting softer labour markets and lower energy prices.
Growth is expected to pick up in 2027 as trade flows adjust and policy uncertainty diminishes.
In 2026, growth in developing economies is expected to slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before edging up to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve and investment flows strengthen.
Growth is projected to be higher in low-income countries, reaching an average of 5.6 per cent over 2026-27, buoyed by firming domestic demand, recovering exports and moderating inflation.
However, this will not be sufficient to narrow the income gap between developing and advanced economies.
Per capita income growth in developing economies is projected to be 3 per cent in 2026—about a percentage point below its 2000-2019 average.
At this pace, per capita income in developing economies is expected to be only 12 per cent of the level in advanced economies.
These trends could intensify the job-creation challenge confronting developing economies, where 1.2 billion young people will reach working age over the next decade, according to the World Bank.
Fibre2Fashion (DS)
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) expects the upcoming Budget to futureproof India’s textile and apparel sector through measures that will make the arena more resilient, innovative, and globally competitive.
CITI has urged the Union Budget to futureproof India’s textile and apparel sector through reforms on raw material pricing, competitiveness, sustainability and trade facilitation.
Seeking duty-free cotton, technology and green schemes, and export support, CITI said that high US tariffs threaten jobs in a sector vital to GDP, exports and livelihoods.
“Our optimism that the forthcoming Union Budget will significantly move the needle on policy and regulatory reforms is bolstered by the government’s steadfast commitment to the growth and development of India’s textile and apparel sector,” CITI chairman Ashwin Chandran said.
“The Budget enabling the creation of a stronger growth ecosystem for the Indian textile and apparel sector can also have a positive ripple effect on the Viksit Bharat (developed India) goal,” Chandran added.
India’s textile and apparel sector is the second-largest provider of jobs and livelihoods in the country. It is also a significant contributor to the country’s GDP and exports.
Some of the specific measures that the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) would like to see in the coming Budget are:
1. Raw material and price stability-related:
- Removal of import duty on all varieties of cotton fibre.
- Change in MSP formula for cotton to align with international benchmark prices.
- Launch of a Cotton Price Stabilisation Fund.
- Ensure availability of man-made fibres (MMF) at globally competitive prices.
2. Competitiveness, technology, and sustainability-related:
- Launch of a Green Technology Scheme to support MSMEs’ transition to clean energy and sustainable practices.
- Launch of an alternative scheme to the erstwhile Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme.
- Launch of a scheme to promote indigenous textile machinery manufacturing.
- Address high power costs and industrial cross-subsidies.
- Establishment of a National Textile Fund.
3. Trade Facilitation-related
- Extension of RBI’s Trade Relief Measures to cover the entire textile value chain.
- Increase in Basic Customs Duty on all types of knitted fabric to curb imports at unviable prices.
- Reintroduction of the MEIS Scheme.
- Extension of the facility of Duty-free Import of specified items/goods to exporters of made-ups.
“Combined, these measures could increase the resilience of India’s textile and apparel sector and help it become a more powerful force globally, while also contributing towards realising the national target of creating a $350 billion textile and apparel industry in India by 2030,” Chandran said.
India’s textile and apparel sector has been hit hard by the 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods, effective August 27, 2025. The steep US tariff has adversely affected numerous Indian textile and apparel companies, thereby increasing the risk that millions of people working in this sector may lose their jobs and livelihoods.
The US is the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel exports, contributing almost 28 per cent to the total revenue of the country’s textile and apparel exporters. India’s exports of textile and apparel products to the US were valued at nearly $11 billion in the fiscal year 2024-25.
“India’s textile and apparel exporters have stepped up their diversification efforts, but it is tough to quickly make up for potential business losses in the US. Also, while existing and upcoming FTAs would create new opportunities for India’s textile and apparel sector, these benefits will require time to materialise,” Chandran said.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
Asian stocks today: Markets trade mostly in red; Nikkei sheds 1%, HSI remains flat – The Times of India
World growth to ease to 2.6% in 2026, rise to 2.7% in 2027: World Bank
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