December 2, 2025

  • Black Friday sales were up by a total of 4.1% versus 2024’s figures (excluding auto sales), according to Mastercard SpendingPulse data. Apparel and jewelry did particularly well during the Black Friday sales event, trending upward by 5.7% and 2.75%, respectively. “Consumers are showing incredible savviness this season. They’re navigating an uncertain environment by shopping early, leveraging promotions, and investing in wish-list items,” said Michelle Meyer, chief economist at the Mastercard Economics Institute (via Chain Store Age).
  • Cyber Monday sales were also up, notching an increase of about 4.5% as of 6:30 p.m. ET against last year’s figures, per Adobe Analytics. A total of about $9.1 billion had been spent by that time, with estimates suggesting that online spending would reach $13.9 billion to $14.2 billion as Monday drew to a close (via Reuters).
  • Costco has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, requesting a full refund of the tariffs so far collected from the warehouse club. The suit primarily concerns itself with an ongoing separate lawsuit being considered by the Supreme Court as to the legality of Trump’s tariff actions, with Costco noting that — even should the Supreme Court decide that the tariffs were not lawful — it faces a deadline of Dec. 15 which could prevent previous tariffs payments from being remitted back to it (via CNBC).
  • Real American Beer is making a play at snagging market share within a crowded market, with high aims to become as “big as Bud Light.” The beer, bearing the likeness of its late founder, pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, is backed by minority owner WWE and is sold in 38 states. “His [Hogan’s] goal was that this would be bigger than Bud Light, and… now we have to carry that out,” said CEO Terri Francis (via FOX Business).
  • TikTok Shop is seeing significant average price increases across categories as it matures as a platform — and confronts the increasing costs of tariffs. “The impact of tariffs and the growth of TikTok Shop make it difficult to isolate the exact causes of price changes,” e-commerce intelligence firm Charm’s CEO Alex Nisenzon said (via Modern Retail).