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Black Friday is no longer just a shopping event. It has become a stress test for customer experience. Every year, millions of consumers flood stores, websites, and pickup counters. They expect speed, clarity, product availability, and a frictionless journey. This is exactly why the Net Promoter Score spikes or collapses during the final week of November. And when you look at the numbers across the United States for 2025, the results tell a surprisingly different story depending on the industry.
At npsBench, we monitor NPS movements day after day. I spend a lot of time digging into state level variations because they often reveal what national averages hide. Some states behave like customer experience powerhouses. Others see loyalty evaporate as soon as volume increases. For Black Friday 2025, the contrasts were quite sharp.
Let’s unpack what really happened in Cosmetics and Beauty, General Retail, and Supermarkets. I will also share what I consider the smartest operational moves if you want to improve your own NPS next season.
Cosmetics and Beauty: Strong Loyalty and Big Year over Year Gains
The Cosmetics and Beauty category performed the best this year. Not just slightly. In many states, it outperformed both retail and grocery by a wide margin.
California climbed to 42, gaining three points compared with last year. Illinois reached 38, also up three points. Even states that are not typically seen as beauty hotspots, such as Arkansas and South Dakota, recorded some of the strongest increases. Arkansas improved by six points year over year, and South Dakota by five. These surges indicate a broad uplift rather than isolated success.
However, the industry is not perfectly stable. Nevada dropped by ten percent year over year, Oklahoma by fourteen percent, and Georgia by sixteen percent. Whenever I see declines of this scale during Black Friday, it usually means the customer experience didn’t keep pace with the spike in store traffic. Out of stock issues, long wait times at beauty counters, or a poor digital to store transition typically influence loyalty here.
If you operate in Beauty, here is the biggest lesson. Customers want help quickly, and they want clarity. Make sure your store teams know exactly which promotional items are still available. Push real time product availability on your website. And avoid surprising customers with sudden price or stock changes in the middle of the Black Friday rush.
See NPS benchmarks for 20 industries, region by region.
General Retail: A Category of Extremes
General Retail behaves like a rollercoaster. Some states soar. Others fall hard. And when customers deal with multi category stores, their expectations shift. They want everything to work perfectly at the same time.
California is the obvious standout with an NPS of 43, gaining seven points year over year. That kind of increase does not happen by accident. It usually reflects better staffing strategies, improved curbside pickup processes, or a communication strategy that reduces shopper frustration.
On the other side of the spectrum you find states such as Nebraska, where the NPS fell by fourteen percent compared with last year, or Oklahoma and Louisiana, both losing ten percent. This means the experience breaks under pressure. Long checkout lines, messy floor layouts, or unorganized Black Friday promotions are frequent culprits.
If you operate in General Retail, the data suggests one clear insight. Customers are not comparing you with your direct competitors. They are comparing you with the best experience they had that day, in any store. So your Black Friday playbook needs to focus less on promotions and more on process reliability. Reduce multi step interactions. Keep digital signage updated. And make sure your pickup area is not understaffed.
See NPS benchmarks for 20 industries, region by region.
Supermarkets and Grocery: Quiet but Meaningful Progress
Supermarkets do not experience Black Friday the same way retail does. But the customer expectations remain high because grocery shopping is essential. People do not forgive operational mistakes easily.
Florida increased its NPS by four points month over month and thirteen points year over year. Pennsylvania gained fifteen points year over year. Texas, another heavyweight, advanced by thirteen points compared with 2024. These improvements are very large for the grocery sector.
States such as Alaska, Kansas, and Missouri recorded significant declines. Alaska dropped nineteen percent year over year. Kansas fell by thirteen percent. Missouri by seventeen percent. When I examine these patterns, the declines typically correlate with limited staff availability or poor shelf replenishment during peak hours.
If you manage a grocery chain, here's the most practical takeaway. Keep the fundamentals strong. Availability, checkout speed, and clarity of promotions drive almost all of the score movements. A confusing promotional structure can sink your NPS more than any other factor during the holiday season.
See NPS benchmarks for 20 industries, region by region.
A Cross Industry Look: What the Data Really Means
When you compare all three industries, one conclusion becomes clear. High performing states tend to deliver consistent service across the entire customer journey. It rarely comes down to just one factor.
Beauty wins when staff is knowledgeable and accessible.
Retail wins when operations are predictable even under pressure.
Supermarkets win when essentials are fully stocked and easy to find.
Black Friday rewards companies that prepare early and follow the data closely. A single operational break can damage loyalty for months.
This is why real time monitoring matters. With npsBench, the advantage comes from the ability to track customer sentiment continuously across states, industries, and stores. When one region falls behind, you can react before the trend becomes too expensive.
See NPS benchmarks for 20 industries, region by region.
What You Should Do Now
Here are a few recommendations if you want to turn these insights into action for next year.
- Track NPS weekly in November instead of monthly. Too much happens during this period.
- Identify the states where your competitors improve rapidly. Their gains often predict shifts in customer expectations in your own area.
- Look at detractor themes in real time. A recurring complaint that appears on November twenty third can save your score on November twenty ninth.
- Align your in store teams with your online promotions. One mismatch can create a wave of negative reviews.
- Use your Black Friday results as a predictive model for December and January. Customer sentiment during this period often sets the tone for Q1.
