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We all know I'm going to talk about Thanksgiving. Marcus Johnson:. What did you learn about Thanksgiving? Suzy Davidkhanian:. Black Friday in two weeks. Christmas is in less than six weeks. The new year is in less than seven weeks. Retailers, you have five less days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so really important to get focused.

What it means for the holiday season: Amazon鈥檚 investments in speed bode well for its performance this holiday season, as the shorter period between Thanksgiving and Christmas puts pressure on consumers to get their festive shopping done faster. Nearly 3 in 10 shoppers (29%) expect holiday gifts to be delivered in two to three days, per a survey by Radial鈥攁 53% increase YoY.

鈥淲e expect there to be some distraction around Halloween and the election,鈥� said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom during the company鈥檚 earnings call, before adding that demand in October and December, as well as around Thanksgiving, is 鈥渧ery strong.鈥� He continued to say that despite the blips, 鈥淧eople want to travel, and we're very optimistic about how the bookings look for the fourth quarter.鈥�.

Our expectations dovetail with Bain鈥檚 forecast, which expects overall retail sales from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday to grow about 5% to reach $75 billion for the first time. Putting the Cyber Five in context: This holiday retail season is longer than ever, with online holiday shopping activity spread across the calendar.

This list is slightly funky because it's the 27th, so we're doing this just before our Thanksgiving Black Friday event. So there's a chance these retailers do something a little crazy in the next few days.

I have a huge sweet tooth and I was brought up in a family where Christmas cookie season started the day after Thanksgiving. So according to Monmouth University, shout out to my home state of New Jersey. Marcus Johnson:. Sources, love it. Victoria Grace:. In a poll asking Americans what their favorite Christmas cookie is.

A happy Thanksgiving. Marcus Johnson:. No one told me. Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf:. Right? I work-. Marcus Johnson:. You're right. Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf:. Okay. Don't make me panic, Marcus. I had planned to be out of office on Friday. Marcus Johnson:. Well, cancel those plans. Yes, it will be Thanksgiving, so we're not going to be around. That's a good point. Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf:.

That spending could prove valuable given that there鈥檚 more uncertainty than usual this holiday season due to the shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the presidential election. Go further: Read our US Holiday Shopping 2024 report.

Still stuffed from Thanksgiving. Hey, Marcus. Marcus Johnson (00:44):. Hello. I was like, has it been that already? It has. We already did it. Glad you had a good one. (00:50):. We're also joined by Daniel Konstantinovic. He is one of our analysts who writes from marketing and advertising briefing. He is also based in the city. Hello, fella. Daniel Konstantinovic (00:59):. Hello. Good to be here.

I think I entered a torpor over Thanksgiving. Henry Powderly (01:55):. Turkey torpor. Marcus Johnson (02:00):. You know how unsettling it is though when you wake up after like a 12-hour sleep. Can you imagine a three-month kip? Dan Van Dyke (02:05):. No. Marcus Johnson (02:05):. Can you imagine actually hibernating? Henry Powderly (02:07):. I cannot. Marcus Johnson (02:08):.

There鈥檚 also a later-than-usual Thanksgiving, which means Cyber Monday falls in December. Go further: Read our US Holiday Shopping 2024 report.

Pulling the holiday season earlier: This holiday season will be unique given the combination of a presidential election and a shorter-than-normal period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The presidential election in particular creates uncertainty, which is why retailers aim to pull the holiday season into October before consumers鈥� focus shifts to the polls.

Retailers grasp for holiday magic amid raucous US elections and five fewer shopping days than usual between Thanksgiving and Christmas, writes Jennifer Williams of the Journal. She notes that US shoppers' spending was strong in September, 0.4% on August, but consumer confidence fell unexpectedly mid-October.

Ecommerce growth accelerated during the 2023 holiday season as US consumers shifted more of their shopping to mobile devices.

So we see the initial wave of holiday shopping that starts in October, and then we can expect a lull until after the election, and things will really ramp up around the cyber week and Thanksgiving.

But every year at the end of the year with Thanksgiving and Christmas, you still see a lot of budgets getting dumped. So I would be surprised if there was a pullback even after the election in total ad spending because there's going to be all the shopping season stuff coming up and I'm not sure why that would be less this year than it has been in years past. Marcus Johnson (10:05):. Yeah.

I did regretfully pick this up during my Thanksgiving travels, and I'm humbled and reminded to savor the sensation of breathing through both nostrils. So please everyone take a deep breath and remember how lucky you are. So colds can be caused by more than 200 different respiratory viruses.

The emergence of Black Fall: Traditionally synonymous with post-Thanksgiving sales, Black Friday is expanding into a season unto itself鈥擝lack Fall. Advertisers are now starting their promotions weeks and even months in advance of Thanksgiving to reach customers looking for the best deals.

And then there's a very short window, or shorter than typical window, between Thanksgiving and Christmas and so all the retailers that didn't move as much inventory as they expected during that time period and during October are going to be in a bit of a frenzy because they don't want to get stuck with a backlog of stuff like they were a few years ago.

Key stat: Half (50%) of US holiday shoppers will start shopping before Thanksgiving this year, up six percentage points from 2023, according to June 2024 data from CivicScience. What this means for marketers: Early shopping means early advertising. Plan to spread holiday budgets out over a longer period of time.