"Black Friday and Cyber Monday are big moneymakers for brands, and companies are feeling extra pressure to squeeze the most they can out of every sale in today's economic environment. For months, brands have grappled with higher costs of goods, changes to their supply chains and low consumer confidence. Retail executives know that shoppers expect promotions for Cyber Week, but they also want to ensure their balance sheets are strong going into 2026."
"As a result, brands are more closely scrutinizing their "promo math" this year and calculating deals based on how much risk they're comfortable taking. "There's been a lot of uncertainty, ... and whenever that happens, from the business standpoint, cash is key," Aaron Luo, co-founder of Caraa and Mercado Famous, told Modern Retail. "You want to play defense. You want to be very careful playing offense, in terms of aggressively going after sales and revenue.""
Tariffs and margin pressure are prompting some brands to scale back Cyber Week discounts compared with last year. Specific examples include Caraa and Mercado Famous cutting discounts from 30% to 25%, and Petite Plume lowering discounts from 25% to 20%. Brands face higher costs of goods, supply-chain changes, and low consumer confidence, which has increased focus on promotional math and risk tolerance. Some retailers continue offering aggressive or unchanged deals, and the National Retail Federation projects record holiday spending that may reflect higher prices rather than increased unit purchases.
Read at Digiday
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