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Consumers are turning to the payment method to mitigate financial pressures this holiday season, but overextension concerns persist

Consumers are turning to their TVs for holiday inspiration: 43% of connected TV (CTV) users say TV ads offer useful information on holiday shopping, and 72% would scan a QR code in a TV ad to make a purchase, according to a report from LG Ad Solutions.

Costco鈥檚 growth in February and during the holiday season reflects its unique ability to attract both cost-conscious shoppers seeking the best deals, and high-income shoppers willing to splurge on pinball machines and gold bullion.

Holiday sales forecasts range between 2% and 4.8%: That variation reflects an unusual environment shaped by lingering inflation, potential interest rate cuts, and a volatile election season.

With the holiday shopping season starting earlier than ever, marketers must gather consumer feedback and insights while campaigns are still in flight. Learn why embracing cross-platform campaign measurement in real time is key for success.

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.

GenAI traffic to retail sites shot up by 1,200% in February compared with July 2024, building on momentum from the holiday season. Those shoppers also tend to spend more time and are more engaged than visitors originating from other channels, with a 23% lower bounce rate. That speaks to users鈥� growing trust in genAI to offer relevant and useful information.

Gen Zers are more than twice (42%) as likely than the average (20%) to buy holiday gifts directly through social media in 2024, according to May 2024 research from Basis Technologies and GWI.

27% of UK and US adults plan to start buying holiday gifts as early as October, according to an April 2024 survey from Salsify.

鈥淥ne of the most interesting things we saw during the holiday season was indoor mall visitation very often outpacing anchor tenants within those same malls,鈥� Chernofsky said. Visits to malls and dwell times were up this past holiday season, per Placer.ai. Movement of people from cities to suburbs during the pandemic resulted in more demand for malls, according to Chernofsky.

October鈥檚 and November鈥檚 share of US digital holiday consumer spend has not shown a consistent increase since 2018, despite retailers moving their holiday sales earlier, per an April 2024 report from Comscore.

Recently, both Walmart and Target have warned that consumers鈥� cautious spending habits may lead to a sluggish holiday season this year. Were they right to be worried? Here鈥檚 how the holiday shopping season is going so far.

Like last year, we expect deal-hunting consumers and mobile-forward brands to drive the 2024 holiday season, according to our US Holiday 2023 Recap and 2024 Preview report.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how Amazon's second Prime Day performed and whether it's really a holiday sale. Then for "Red-Hot Retail," our analysts give us some spicy predictions about the 2023 holiday season. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how the 2023 holiday shopping season really went, whether we've shaken the feeling that we're in a recession, and what this means for the start of this year. Then for "Red-Hot Retail," our analysts give us two spicy predictions about the 2024 holiday season and two about what they would like to see from retailers. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.

Prime Day鈥檚 performance will be an early predictor of holiday season ecommerce demand鈥攁t the product category level and for specific merchandise. Retailers and brands should pay close attention.

Retailers are cautiously optimistic as they look ahead to the holiday season: Imports are expected to be slightly higher YoY as companies bring in more mid-priced items.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss what we are paying close attention to this holiday season, how much more the holiday season has been pulled forward, and besides being earlier than everyone else, which holiday strategies will work? Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank one projected winner and one retailer that needs help this holiday season. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.

With the ascent of Chinese ecommerce disruptors and the ongoing rivalry between Amazon and Walmart, the upcoming holiday season is expected to bring some big shifts. Some of those shifts include the lessening of Cyber Five鈥檚 importance and retailers losing focus on profitability, said our analysts Jeremy Goldman and Zak Stambor on a recent episode of the 鈥淏ehind the Numbers鈥� podcast.

At least 10% of US ecommerce orders were returned each week from last November through mid-January, according to Salesforce. The return rate was as high as 16% in some weeks, a significant increase over the previous holiday season.

Gen Z is ready to spend this season. Millennials may be a bit cautious. YouTube is the place to go if brands want to get on Gen Alpha鈥檚 radar. And for older consumers, trust is the key to getting them to spend. Here鈥檚 how retailers can appeal to each generation as the holiday season readies for Cyber Five.

Consumers spent $211.7 billion online over the 2022 holiday season (from November 1 to December 31), growing 3.5% year over year, per Adobe Analytics.

Holiday season creep is here to stay: Half of shoppers plan to start shopping before November.

Gen Zers and millennials are more likely than older generations to do their holiday shopping in-person at the mall, whereas Gen Xers and baby boomers are more likely to shop online via retailer websites, per The Harris Poll.