Black Friday just hit different this year. American online shoppers dropped $11.8 billion in a single day — that's a 9% jump from 2023. But here's the real question: are people actually buying more stuff, or are we just watching price tags climb while everyone pretends it's a win? When you factor in how much prices have crept up across the board, that "growth" starts looking more like we're all just paying more for the same cart. Makes you wonder what the numbers really mean when inflation's in the mix.