(Reuters) -Online sales in the U.S. on the Thanksgiving holiday are expected to rise 6% compared with last year to reach $8.6 billion, data from Salesforce showed on Thursday, suggesting shoppers were lapping up steep discounts from retailers to splurge amid tariff-induced macroeconomic uncertainty.

As of 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), Thanksgiving spending in the U.S. was 5.8% higher than at the same time last year, reaching $2.6 billion, the data showed.

Thanksgiving and the day after, Black Friday, usher in the holiday shopping season, a critical stretch that typically delivers about a third of U.S. retailers’ yearly sales and profits.

This year’s kickoff comes amid economic uncertainty and heightened volatility from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods, which have raised costs

See Full Page