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More ominously, 37% plan to reduce spending during the summer and holiday periods. Small businesses are growing more pessimistic. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 1.6 points in April, the second straight month below its 51-year average. The share of owners expecting better business conditions dropped 6 points from March, the lowest since last October.

Amtrak's social team follows a structured approach to content ideation, organizing potential posts into three strategic buckets: Business priorities, holidays/seasonality, and general trends. This framework allows them to balance practical information with more creative, attention-grabbing content. What makes this particular post remarkable is not just its view count but the engagement metrics.

鈥淲hether it鈥檚 Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Fourth of July, there are brands and categories within the consumer packaged goods (CPG) category that are relevant to each of those 丑辞濒颈诲补测蝉,鈥� said Galvin. Brands can benefit even when their product isn鈥檛 typically in season.

Online sales will also accelerate to close out 2024. Holiday ecommerce sales will rise 9.5% YoY, a pace not seen in the past two years, and total online sales for November and December will reach $266.89 billion.

A truncated holiday spending period with fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the election will throw a curveball to retail sales this season, our analyst Sky Canaves said on an episode of the 鈥淏ehind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail鈥� podcast. In-store retail will see healthy growth, consumers will continue holding back on splurges, and mobile will uplift overall ecommerce. Here are three trends we鈥檙e predicting for the upcoming holiday season.

Several of Darden鈥檚 brands posted record sales during Christmas and New Year鈥檚, as well as on Valentine鈥檚 Day, a sign that consumers continue to use holidays and other events as an excuse to spend.

The holiday season is a high-traffic time for quick-service restaurants (QSRs). For QSR marketers, adjusting ad strategies to focus closely on optimization and real-time measurement is crucial in order to capitalize on the lucrative, but brief holiday period.

Retailers struggle under the weight of holiday returns: Global returns grew 63% YoY as economic concerns drove shoppers to rethink purchases.

We highlight the banking news that broke while most of us relaxed over the two-week holiday slowdown.

We look at the trends that will sustain that growth into 2024

The situation introduces additional volatility just as advertisers are heading into seasonal planning periods for back-to-school, holiday, and Q4 campaigns, which could drive more cautious investment. Our analysts are currently preparing an updated US Retail & Ecommerce forecast, slated for release in May, with revised global retail forecasts coming by late June.

Has holiday creep crept over the line? Brands risk turning off consumers by launching Christmas countdowns in August and offering pumpkin spice lattes before kids head back to school.

This year, US holiday sales will reach a record $1.353 trillion, per our July 2024 forecast. That holiday season is starting earlier and earlier, which means marketers need to be prepared now for shopping to pick up in September and October. The election and consumer concerns about the economy will complicate where advertisers reach consumers and what messaging they use. Here are five stats marketers should see as they prep their holiday campaigns.

Retailers must continually test and adapt their strategies to find what resonates with consumers ahead of the holidays. An extended holiday season requires a dynamic approach to promotions, while brands aiming to reach Gen Z should use creators and video ads. Here are three pieces of advice on a successful holiday ad campaign from Meta and two of its advertising partners, 鈥嬧�婳gee Beauty and AS Beauty.

Walmart partners with Burger King to beef up Walmart+ perks: While the retailer focuses on appealing to its core customer base, Amazon makes a move for holiday and grocery sales.

Apple鈥檚 MacBook mostly dodged holiday weakness a few quarters ago, but shipments fell 40.5% compared to the first three months of 2022. This trend could continue throughout the year.

Amazon is also bullish about its holiday prospects: The company projects Q4 sales growth between 7% and 11% YoY; our forecast expects its US holiday ecommerce sales alone to grow 9.1% YoY to $112.23 billion. Meanwhile, Target expects Q4 sales to be flat as shoppers prioritize essentials over the types of discretionary goods that are the retailer鈥檚 bread and butter.