For many Mexican families, El Buen Fin 2025 is less a spontaneous shopping spree and more a date circled on the calendar, months in advance. The five-day campaign will run from 13 to 17 November this year, drawing thousands of businesses into a national push of discounts, bank promotions, and extended store hours.
El Economista’s latest infographic on the event highlights what shoppers themselves say out loud: they buy during El Buen Fin mainly to take advantage of promotions, to pick up more items than they could at full price, and to make their money last longer. Many also go in ready to tap savings that they have set aside specifically for this weekend.
A recent Ipsos survey on El Buen Fin 2025 backs up that picture. Seven in ten Mexicans say they usually buy something during the event, and eight in ten say they trust the discounts they find. Most monitor prices before the weekend, and more than half highlight the emotional pull of this “most exciting” shopping season of the year. In other words, people are not only chasing low prices; they are also chasing the feeling of getting ahead, at least for a moment. You can see that mix of rational and emotional motives in the way shoppers prepare, compare, and finally swipe their cards. An Ipsos study on El Buen Fin 2025 captures this mix in detail.
Why Mexicans plan to spend
Behind the enthusiasm sits a more complex reality: household budgets remain tight. Inflation has cooled from its peak but still eats into everyday purchases, and wage growth has not erased that squeeze. For many, concentrating big-ticket buys in November is a way to fight back. By combining price cuts, store promotions, and bank offers, a refrigerator or laptop can stop being a distant wish and become something that fits into a monthly budget.
That is where months without interest come in. An AMVO-backed survey reported by El Economista finds that the most anticipated benefits this year are precisely the financing tools: interest-free installments, bonuses, loyalty points, and minimum-spend rewards. When buyers know they can divide a purchase into twelve fixed payments, the same paycheck suddenly appears larger. Many also plan to pay with accumulated reward points, which have surpassed cash as a preferred payment method for some younger shoppers.
The same survey notes that seven in ten consumers plan to maintain or increase their El Buen Fin spending compared with last year, even after a record 2024 edition that generated 173.8 billion pesos in sales and a 15.5 percent nominal increase over 2023, according to figures cited from the Economy Ministry. That willingness to keep spending suggests that, while the overall retail picture has softened, the event itself still holds strong sway over when and how people open their wallets.
Planning plays a bigger role than the ads might suggest. Ipsos reports that more than 80 percent of consumers plan their purchases, tracking prices and comparing options before committing. In practice, that can mean a couple in Guadalajara watching the cost of a washing machine for weeks, waiting for El Buen Fin to finally combine a 25 percent discount with bank cashback, and months without interest. The moment the promotion appears, the decision is almost automatic.
At the same time, the same research shows that about 70 percent of Mexicans go into debt to take advantage of discount seasons. That raises a tension at the heart of El Buen Fin: the event helps households access durable goods, but it can also push families into commitments that outlast the thrill of a new TV or sofa.
El Buen Fin 2025
Another reason shoppers say they will spend this year is psychological. Ipsos highlights the “emotional charge” linked to El Buen Fin, with more than half of respondents mentioning that feeling directly. The campaign positions itself as a celebration: banners in shopping centers, branded bags on the metro, bank apps pushing alerts about “unmissable” offers. For many workers, it coincides with the expectation of year-end bonuses and the idea that they “deserve” a reward after a long year.
Surveys also show how carefully people are trying to manage that impulse. Research Land data, published by Forbes, finds that 45 percent of those who will shop this El Buen Fin expect to spend between 3,001 and 7,000 pesos, while a quarter plan to spend under 3,000 pesos. Only a small share plan, exceeding 15,000 pesos. Many also say they will use part of their aguinaldo to cover purchases, which shows that shoppers are thinking of the event as part of a broader annual budget, not just a one-off party. A Research Land survey cited by Forbes lays out those spending bands and the share of buyers who plan to use their year-end bonus.
The same study confirms the continued importance of physical stores. Six in ten buyers still prefer malls and department stores, even as almost everyone checks prices online first. That hybrid behavior helps explain why retailers and banks invest in both channels simultaneously. Shoppers may compare offers on their phones, but they still want to see the television’s picture quality or sit on the sofa before signing up for a year of monthly payments.
Meanwhile, AMVO’s pulse reports from the 2024 campaign show that exclusive promotions most strongly drive online buyers, the ability to compare many brands at once, and the convenience of avoiding crowds. Those habits are unlikely to reverse in 2025. What changes is the mix: more buyers say they will only shop online, but an even larger group plans to mix web searches with in-store pickups and returns. Retailers that can merge both experiences smoothly are the ones most likely to win this year’s battle for attention.
Financial authorities also see El Buen Fin as a teaching moment. While detailed guidance for the 2025 edition focuses on basic rules—set a budget, check prices beforehand, read the fine print on months without interest—the underlying message is simple: a “good” deal is not good if it strains your finances well into next year.
For shoppers, though, those cautions coexist with a sense of opportunity. In a year where many households have postponed repairs, upgrades, and treats, El Buen Fin 2025 offers a short window where a careful plan, a stack of saved pesos, and the proper promotion can make long-delayed purchases achievable. The real challenge is not just to spend, but to come out of the weekend with better goods at home and a budget that still feels livable in January.
