Key Takeaways:Shoppers spent big despite economic uncertainty, driven by AI and deep discounts.Beauty outperformed, with Amazon leaders thriving through creators and off-platform traffic.Mobile, social commerce, and BNPL reshaped holiday buying behavior across categories.Cyber Week 2025 unfolded against a backdrop of economic whiplash: Americans are spending aggressively despite persistent anxiety about savings, credit card debt, and inflation that never quite cooled. The early months of the Trump administration amplified the volatility, with markets swinging on regulatory announcements, tariffs, consumer confidence pulling in opposite directions, and retailers bracing for shifts in tax and trade policies.Yet, shoppers showed up in force. Over the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, consumers spent $44.2 billion online (+7.1% year over year (YoY), part of the nearly 203 million people who hit stores and websites during the long weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.Black Friday vs. Cyber MondayAccording to Adobe Analytics, Black Friday (+9.1% YoY) outpaced Cyber Monday (+7.1% YoY) growth for the second consecutive year, signaling a structural shift in holiday shopping behavior as retailers push deeper, earlier discounts. However, Cyber Monday still remains the most powerful day of the shopping season, as US consumers spent $14.25 billion online. At the peak hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Cyber Monday, shoppers poured in $16 million per minute, powered by promotions and the fast-rising adoption of AI-powered shopping tools.Adobe now predicts that the 2025 holiday (Nov. 1-Dec. 31) will reach $253.4 billion in online sales, up 5.3% YoY.