蘑菇AV

The news: Michaels is getting a head start on the spooky season. The arts and crafts retailer began stocking its shelves with Halloween merchandise this past Friday, marking its earliest-ever rollout of themed items. Our take: Michaels is betting that even as consumers pull back on discretionary purchases, they鈥檒l keep splurging on Instagram-worthy seasonal d茅cor鈥攅specially if they can get it first. From black rose wreaths to candy-colored pumpkins and disco-themed skeletons, the early drop positions Michaels to win over shoppers eager to get a head start on Halloween.

Use this chart: Retail strategists can use this data to benchmark traffic against top competitors and identify areas for growth, optimize digital marketing campaigns to capture holiday shoppers earlier in the season, and leverage insights into rising players like Uncommon Goods to partner with or adopt similar product offerings. Related 蘑菇AV reports:.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of parents of Gen Alpha children planned to buy beauty or health and wellness products for them during the 2024 holiday season, according to a November 2024 CivicScience poll. Beauty loyalty programs are becoming more creative. Brands and retailers strive for improved engagement and personalization with new formats and campaigns extending into gaming platforms like Roblox.

The key stat: 54% of US consumers who took on debt to pay for holiday gifts are at least somewhat concerned about repaying it, per data from CivicScience. 27% of buy now, pay later (BNPL) users concerned about paying debt owe between $100 and $500, 10% owe between $500 and $1,000, and 19% owe $1,000 or more.

Amazon and Walmart are well-positioned for success this holiday season, but Target鈥檚 Q4 looks rockier. Walmart鈥檚 quarter is 鈥渙ff to a pretty good start,鈥� per CFO John David Rainey. Shoppers snapped up items like TVs, headphones, and even tires ahead of Black Friday sales.

Roughly 7 in 10 US retailers (68%) said that ecommerce theft and fraud were a bigger concern in 2024 than the year prior, per an NRF report. 1 in 4 higher-income shoppers reported engaging in some kind of first-party fraud during the holiday season鈥攕uch as disputing legitimate credit card charges or falsely claiming packages were stolen鈥攃ompared with just 11% of low-income consumers, according to a survey

JD.com鈥檚 retail sales rose 14.7% in Q4: That鈥檚 an encouraging sign for China鈥檚 retailers as they eagerly await a consumption recovery.

Our take: With nearly every retailer鈥攊ncluding Target鈥攍aunching sales in early October, it is easy to lose sight of the Cyber 5鈥檚 outsize share of overall holiday sales.

US consumers will spend $3.2 billion on flowers this Mother鈥檚 Day: While NRF鈥檚 forecast is flat YoY, florists face tighter margins as tariffs drive up costs.

While some retailers鈥攎ost notably department stores鈥攈ad a lackluster holiday season, others reported a solid end to the year, fueled by discounts as well as renewed interest in big-ticket purchases.