Long Thanksgiving weekends are full of childhood memories. They are packed with beloved traditions like watching Friends, enjoying a massive turkey dinner, and goofing around with friends and family. One tradition we are not nostalgic for is waking up at 4 a.m. to wait outside the mall for the retail version of the running of the bulls when doors open on Black Friday.
Black Friday takes place the day after Thanksgiving, which falls on Thursday, November 27 this year. This means Black Friday will be observed on Friday, November 28, 2025. But this year, the rush may be less frantic as tariffs and rising costs are forcing many retailers to scale back their holiday discounts, leaving shoppers with fewer deep deals to chase.
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Across the United States, retailers are entering the holiday season facing a delicate dilemma: slash prices to attract bargain-hunting shoppers, or maintain profit margins and risk driving customers away.
Several retailers say their room for holiday discounting has shrunk, pointing to sharply higher import tariffs that have pushed up inventory and operational costs, making it harder to offer deep seasonal deals.
Lisa Cheng Smith, who runs Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry in New York City, told CBS News that her supply costs have jumped between 20% and 50% this year, largely due to higher U.S. tariffs on products from Taiwan and other parts of Asia.
In previous years, Yun Hai routinely offered a 15% Black Friday discount to drive holiday sales, a tradition that founder Lisa Cheng Smith says “is a really important thing for us.” But this season, rising costs driven by tariffs have left her uncertain about how much she can afford to mark down. “It’s complicated because of tariffs and how the retail math works,” she explained, noting that she now has to weigh whether to reduce the discount or maintain the offer her customers have come to expect. “What we do from October through December is equal to the whole rest of the year in terms of sales, so every day is more high stakes.”
Dan Peskorse, owner of Upstream Brands, which sells items on Amazon and other online marketplaces, said rising tariffs are forcing him to rethink his Black Friday strategy. In previous years, the company offered discounts of up to 30% on products such as ThinkFit meal-prep bags and Ash Harbor home goods. Peskorse said, “This is the first year that we are not offering across-the-board discounts on products,” and he said the decision was “100%” due to tariffs, as per CBS News.
Despite rising costs and smaller discounts at some retailers, Major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have begun slashing prices on electronics, with televisions seeing some of the deepest discounts.
Amazon is rolling out a wide range of Black Friday deals. Shoppers can find sitewide discounts of up to 70 percent on best-price-ever offers and limited-time Lightning deals. From Bose headphones to DeWalt tool kits, the selection includes many deals that are too good to miss. Walmart’s early Black Friday Rollbacks cover a range of categories, with one highlight being its early television deal.