Consumers are under pressure as their savings dwindle and their credit card debt grows. Though they got some relief from easing inflation, the prices of many goods and services are still far higher than they were three years ago.

Many retailers ordered fewer goods for this holiday season and pushed holiday sales earlier in October than last year to help shoppers spread out their spending. This year, retailers said more shoppers focused on deals and waiting until the last minute.

Yvonne Carey, 72, was among the first shoppers at Macy’s Herald Square store in Manhattan, where she snapped up discounted Michael Kors slippers and Ugg boots for herself. Still, she said she planned to stick to the same $1,000 budget as last year as she shops for gifts for her husband and six grandchildren.

“The prices are crazy on everything food, clothes,” Carey said.

At Macy’s Herald Square store, shoppers streamed in soon after the doors opened at 6 a.m., finding discounts of between 40% and 50% on boots and shoes and handbags. Diamond jewelry was discounted by 60%.

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said shoppers across all income levels are “more discerning about how they are spending their budget.”

Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend — which includes the Monday after the holiday, known as Cyber Monday — a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend.

Black Friday was expected as usual to be the busiest shopping day of the year, according to Sensormatic Solutions, which tracks store traffic.

About 12,000 customers showed up at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the first hour of its 7 a.m. opening — 20% more than last year, said Jill Renslow, executive vice president of business development and marketing for the shopping center. She said discounts are roughly in line with a year ago and she expected sales to be up anywhere from 3% to 4% at the mall.

Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of mall operator CBL Properties, said traffic was similar or better Friday compared with a year ago based on a spot check of 18 of its 54 malls. He said more stores brought back doorbuster discounts, a Black Friday hallmark before the advent of online shopping. Rose & Remington gave out $25 gift cards to the first 50 people in line, while JCPenney gave out 200 discount cards every four hours.

Gone are the Black Fridays of years ago, when customers would stand in line for hours in the middle of the night, or brawls would break out over high-demand items. Still, Black Friday shopping remains a cherished tradition for many, and retailers tried to reward devotees with steeper discounts and other surprises.

“I love doing it. I stay up the whole night just waiting for this day,” said Lisa Brooks, 45, a nurse from the Bronx who was at Macy’s early looking for perfume, socks and other items for herself and her mother.

“Tradition every year, get up at four o’ clock, eat breakfast and come in the mall and shop all day,” said Martha Stewart, singing and giddily looking through her shopping bags at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, Louisiana.

Samuel Alvez, 44, and his wife ventured out for Black Friday shopping for the first time in years. At a Walmart in Germantown, Maryland, the couple bought two computer monitors and a pressure cooker but were disappointed by the discounts.

“Back in the day, they had these good deals in stores,” Alvez said. “Now, we don’t see that anymore.”

Friday’s scene was mostly tame, aside from a big mall in New Jersey being evacuated for a bomb threat, authorities said.

At the Westfield Garden State Mall in Paramus, N.J., on Friday, “the traffic was good but it wasn’t the kick-the-doors opening of years gone by,” said Michael Brown, America’s retail leader at global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney who visited the shopping center.

Worker unrest and protests over the Israel-Gaza war clouded the shopping experience in some parts of the world. Pro-Palestinian activists staged Black Friday protests Los Angeles and Washington. In Europe, the UNI Global Union said it organized “Make Amazon Pay” strikes and protests in 30 countries. Amazon said the strikes would not affect customers.

Consumers spent $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving Day, when most of the major stores closed and shoppers focused on online shopping, according to Adobe Analytics. That was up 5.5% compared with a year ago. For the first 23 days of November, consumers spent $76.7 billion online, up 6.8% from the same period a year ago. Online sales on Black Friday are expected to bring in $9.6 billion, up 5.7% compared with the year-ago period, Adobe said.

Online discounts should be better than a year ago, particularly for toys, electronics and clothing, according to Adobe.

The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expected shoppers to spend more this year than last year, but their pace will slow. The group forecast that U.S. holiday sales will rise 3% to 4% for November through December, compared with 5.4% growth a year ago.