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On today's podcast episode, we discuss why it felt as though fewer brands were showing their support for LGBTQ+ folks, what a brands place in Pride (or holidays) is, and which retailers have hit the nail on the head this year. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Daniel Konstantinovic and Paola Flores-Marquez.

his year, US holiday retail sales growth will align more closely with rates seen pre-pandemic, with ecommerce returning to double-digit growth at 11.3% YoY, according to our June forecast.

US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday growth trends are usually pretty similar, but this year, growth will diverge. US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday spending growth were within 1 percentage point of each other in both 2020 and 2021, and closer to 4 percentage points apart in 2022, during a holiday season impacted by inflation, supply chain issues, and geopolitical concerns. This year, we forecast a US back-to-school ecommerce growth rate of 1.5%, slower than our forecast 11.3% holiday retail ecommerce growth.

As the top two retailers in the US, Walmart and Amazon are battling for holiday success by rolling out the best deals, the fastest delivery, and the best in-store experience. Here鈥檚 who we expect will come out on top in each of those areas, plus a post-holiday outlook.

Roku and The Coca-Cola Co. are using shoppable media to target consumers at home during the holidays, while Saks Fifth Avenue and Dior are celebrating 70 years of partnership with a first-of-its-kind ecommerce pop-up. Plus, Uber is leveraging the 鈥淩eal Housewives鈥� franchise to build up its ad business.

Walmart is launching its first shoppable video series: The first episodes of the holiday-themed 鈥淎dd to Heart鈥� will be available on Roku, TikTok, and YouTube beginning on Dec. 2.

Retail sales growth is expected to be solid over the holidays: However, there鈥檚 some cause for concern given that consumers plan to buy from fewer retailers than in years past.

鈥橳is the season for a deluge of holiday ads, as everyone tries to score a piece of the $1.317 trillion holiday sales pie (per our June 2023 forecast). To break through the noise, brands need to zero in on what resonates with consumers鈥攁nd maybe even have a little fun.

With the start of Q4, the holiday season is officially here. That means holiday returns will be piling up soon.

Large retailers are in a prime position for the final holiday push: Amazon, Target, and Walmart are poised to leverage their infrastructures to capture an outsize share of spend and retail media dollars.

Over one-third (38%) of US adults have decreased their impulse spending this year, up from 14% in 2022, per a study commissioned by Slickdeals and conducted by OnePoll. As we enter the holiday season, there are still a few ways retailers can encourage impulse purchases, from experimenting with shoppable media and putting seasonal products front and center to anticipating the last-minute needs of customers picking up orders in-store.