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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.

The subscriber dip: Disney had warned it expected a 鈥渕odest decline鈥� in Disney+ subscribers during the holiday season due to a recent price hike and the end of certain promotions. While the dip was expected, it could cause concerns about how successful the company鈥檚 password-sharing crackdown will be in driving subscriptions.

Strong holiday shopping. 鈥淚n the US, consumer holiday spending growth was in the upper mid-single digits on a year-over-year basis,鈥� per CFO Chris Suh. Discretionary categories including retail, travel, and entertainment led growth. New international card partnerships. Visa launched a bevy of new consumer credit cards like one with digital bank Neon in Brazil.

And as in 2023, beauty was high on Gen Alpha鈥檚 holiday list: 41% of households with children intended to buy beauty products during the holiday season, 11 percentage points higher than the general population. What retailers and brands need to know: Like their Gen Z forebears, Gen Alpha has discerning tastes, honed by an incessant flow of beauty content on TikTok and YouTube.

China鈥檚 retail sector will grow from government stimulus, retail鈥檚 genAI revolution will have a far-reaching impact, India鈥檚 quick commerce will heat up, China鈥檚 retailers will face pushback in the region, and Xiaohongshu will further establish itself.

Our take: Despite some initial concerns that the presidential election and other world events could derail consumer spending, Amazon now expects holiday sales to be robust this year鈥攁n attitude which corresponds with our own holiday forecast.

Alibaba touts early Singles Day successes: Apple, lululemon, and Nike were among the biggest beneficiaries as price-conscious shoppers took advantage of steep discounts and other promotions.

Holiday sales were subdued. Sales during the last three months of the year fell 0.8% compared with the previous quarter, per the Office of National Statistics. On a YoY basis, Q4 sales were up 1.9%, less than the annual rate of inflation (2.5%). Consumers brace for an economic downturn.

The tailwinds: The projections come on the heels of a strong holiday season in which a wide array of retailers鈥攊ncluding Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, lululemon athletica, and Nordstrom鈥攔aised their Q4 outlooks.

GenAI worms its way into the shopping journey: Generative AI (genAI) played a larger role in holiday shopping this year, whether buyers knew it or not. AI-powered product recommendations, targeted offers, and customer service support influenced $229 billion of global online holiday sales, according to Salesforce. Traffic to retail sites from genAI chatbots grew 1,300% YoY, per Adobe.

The decision follows a strike at dozens of stores during the busy holiday season, after both sides failed to agree on a contract framework for unionized locations. Our take: The labor movement may not have the juice it did a few years ago, but workers who started organizing back then still have the power to drive change.

Advertisers can leverage Pinterest鈥檚 first-party data to create highly visual, personalized ads for key retail events like back-to-school and holiday shopping. Meanwhile, online video and CTV ad formats help advertisers reach a wider audience and drive brand awareness. Why it matters: We forecast US off-site retail media ad spend will grow 42.1% this year to $13.06 billion.

Yeah, there's some Placer data that also shows this, dwell time was up in malls over the holiday season. That's not really surprising, but it was up to about 78 minutes per visit in indoor malls. Higher dwell times to me, I think means that people might be spending more time not just in those anchor stores, but also in other places in the mall, just like you were talking about.

Solid travel demand is a positive sign for Beijing, but it鈥檚 unclear whether that momentum will continue past the holiday season鈥攐r whether lingering economic uncertainty will push households to tighten their grip on their wallets.

Our take: Apple鈥檚 delayed launch and muted impact of its generative AI (genAI) features on iPhone 16 holiday sales could have Apple worried about wasted time and investment. Forcing users to act to opt out could be its effort to boost adoption and sway skeptical users.

Consumer spending for the 2025 back-to-school shopping season will slow for the second year in a row as growth aligns with full-year retail. Ecommerce and K-12-focused purchases will drive overall spending.

Despite the current duopoly between Mercado Libre and Amazon in Mexico鈥檚 ecommerce market, roughly 60% of online sales remain up for grabs for local, regional, and global retailers.

Although no single player rivals Mercado Libre鈥檚 hold on Latin America鈥檚 ecommerce market, nearly 70% of online sales are still fair game for the long tail of retailers.

The trend: Walmart has begun rolling out 鈥淪ummer Frights鈥� Halloween displays in about 1,000 stores across the US, featuring quirky early-season items like watermelon jack-o鈥�-lanterns and ghost plushies in Hawaiian shirts. Our take: Walmart is smart to embrace offbeat retail moments like Summerween. While consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending, they continue to splurge on seasonal celebrations like Halloween and the holidays. Halloween alone has become a major retail event, with spending hitting $11.6 billion last year鈥攁 31.8% increase from pre-pandemic 2019. Summerween pulls some of that spending forward and gives budget-conscious shoppers a playful reason to open their wallets鈥攅ven if they鈥檙e feeling spooked by the economy.