With Black Friday and the holiday shopping season here, shoppers are buckling down for some of the biggest deals of the year. People are ready to click the “order now” button from home or swipe their card at the nearest shopping plaza. 

While online shopping has become quite popular within the past few years, that isn’t stopping people from shopping in stores. Black Friday continues to be a huge shopping day despite the spike in inflation and higher prices of almost everything. 

Although student budgets are not fitted for the average Black Friday spending one might splurge on, some deals incorporate everyone. Electronics sales were the highest on the scale of Black Friday choices, including Apple MacBooks and Apple Watches. Other popular choices included Xbox Series X, FIFA ’23, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.  

“I do remember the stress about the gaming consoles when my son was young,” says Deb Flaherty, the library media specialist at Nonnewaug. “They were a very big choice and I got it but it was really hard to get. If you want it, you’re just going to spend it anyway. I’m more up for Cyber Monday, anyway.”

In recent years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have mainly been directed towards smartphone shopping. In the first 20 days of November, online shopping has raked in over $65.3 billion, according to Axios. Online shopping appeals to people who don’t want the stress of going out to stores after Thanksgiving.

“I need to decompress from Thanksgiving, and online shopping makes it a bit easier,” said Stephanie Deering, a library media assistant at Nonnewaug. “It used to be fun to do, but it took away from Thanksgiving and now it’s crazy.” 

Nowadays, people turn to “Buy Now, Pay Later” payment options, which allow shoppers to pay through interest-free installments. These orders spiked 78% last year, according to Adobe. Revenue from these orders is also up 81% in the same period.