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Key stat: 18% of US adults spent more on gifts than they intended to during the 2024 holiday season, per Ipsos’ Consumer Tracker data. However, twice as many (37%) said they stuck to their budgets. Nearly half (49%) of consumers did most of their holiday shopping online.

Banks have an opportunity to build trust by recommending relevant products and engaging on social media.

Zooming out: The ad market’s strong end-of-year performance reflects a robust consumer appetite during the holiday season. But the key question is whether that growth will extend into 2025 as economic uncertainties swirl.

Beauty, despite strong holiday sales, cut its full-year forecast after a 36% YoY profit drop and a weak start to January. The China challenge: L'Oréal and Estée Lauder face steep sales declines in China. L'Oréal’s North Asia Q4 sales shrank 3.6% on a like-for-like basis, or -3.1% on a reported basis, while Estée Lauder’s Asia-Pacific net sales plunged 11% YoY during the quarter.

After a disappointing holiday season, Kohl’s announced plans to close 27 underperforming stores across more than a dozen states to improve profitability. Meanwhile, Macy’s expects sales to be at or slightly below its previous guidance of $7.8 billion to $8.0 billion.

Still, the retailer will account for just 8.1% of total ecommerce sales this holiday season to Amazon’s 42.1%, giving it significant runway for growth. Go further: Read our US Holiday Shopping 2024 report and our US Holiday Ecommerce Sales Benchmarks: Q4 2024.

Why it matters: The data provides additional puzzle pieces to the picture of a strong economy, as retailers like Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, and lululemon Athletica raised their Q4 outlooks after generating better-than-expected holiday sales.