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Holiday sales were subdued. Sales during the last three months of the year fell 0.8% compared with the previous quarter, per the Office of National Statistics. On a YoY basis, Q4 sales were up 1.9%, less than the annual rate of inflation (2.5%). Consumers brace for an economic downturn.

The drop is noteworthy given payment volume typically ticks up in Q4 as consumers ramp up holiday shopping. This is likely in part due to increased point-of-sale (POS) competition from the likes of Toast, Fiserv, and Revolut. What about Cash App? The platform faces slowing volume growth and a flat user base. Cash App鈥檚 total inflows increased 14% YoY in 2024, down from 22% in 2023.

The subscriber dip: Disney had warned it expected a 鈥渕odest decline鈥� in Disney+ subscribers during the holiday season due to a recent price hike and the end of certain promotions. While the dip was expected, it could cause concerns about how successful the company鈥檚 password-sharing crackdown will be in driving subscriptions.

Deal-seeking by consumers, heavy discounting from retailers, and a longer holiday shopping season drove an uptick in returns during the 2022 holiday season. Retailers will need to plan their promotional calendars carefully to manage returns in 2023.

The tailwinds: The projections come on the heels of a strong holiday season in which a wide array of retailers鈥攊ncluding Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, lululemon athletica, and Nordstrom鈥攔aised their Q4 outlooks.

Gift cards are also propping up prepaid card spend, especially during the holiday season. More than half (56%) of consumers said they purchased a gift card during the 2024 holiday season, an 8% increase from the prior year, per a Blackhawk Network survey. Younger generations鈥� love of digital gift cards helped drive this growth: 60% of Gen Zers purchased a digital gift card over the holiday season.

During the season of giving, one gift that retailers can truly bank on is partnership marketing. Partnerships not only provide a host of benefits like extended reach and enhanced credibility, they can also make the holiday season considerably more profitable.

Shoppers made a record number of Amazon purchases this holiday season: Strong consumer spending coupled with momentum in its ad business helped propel Amazon鈥檚 earnings well past expectations.

Chinese consumer spending dipped below pre-pandemic levels during Golden Week holiday: While there were some positive signs鈥攊ncluding higher daily spending鈥攕entiment remains subdued, which could bode ill for Singles Day.

And as in 2023, beauty was high on Gen Alpha鈥檚 holiday list: 41% of households with children intended to buy beauty products during the holiday season, 11 percentage points higher than the general population. What retailers and brands need to know: Like their Gen Z forebears, Gen Alpha has discerning tastes, honed by an incessant flow of beauty content on TikTok and YouTube.

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:.

The decision follows a strike at dozens of stores during the busy holiday season, after both sides failed to agree on a contract framework for unionized locations. Our take: The labor movement may not have the juice it did a few years ago, but workers who started organizing back then still have the power to drive change.

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.

Solid travel demand is a positive sign for Beijing, but it鈥檚 unclear whether that momentum will continue past the holiday season鈥攐r whether lingering economic uncertainty will push households to tighten their grip on their wallets.

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

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.

In the 2024 holiday season, for example, Adobe reported a 13-fold increase in retail site traffic driven by AI chatbots. This shift is forcing marketers to develop dual strategies as AI agents increasingly influence purchasing decisions.

Advertisers can leverage Pinterest鈥檚 first-party data to create highly visual, personalized ads for key retail events like back-to-school and holiday shopping. Meanwhile, online video and CTV ad formats help advertisers reach a wider audience and drive brand awareness. Why it matters: We forecast US off-site retail media ad spend will grow 42.1% this year to $13.06 billion.

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.

Our take: Apple鈥檚 delayed launch and muted impact of its generative AI (genAI) features on iPhone 16 holiday sales could have Apple worried about wasted time and investment. Forcing users to act to opt out could be its effort to boost adoption and sway skeptical users.

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.

We expect holiday sales to grow 4.3% this year, as a broad array of deals and the desire to get ahead of tariffs drive shoppers to open their wallets. Go further: Read our US Holiday Shopping 2024 report. This article is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 client-only subscription Briefings鈥攄aily newsletters authored by industry analysts who are experts in marketing, advertising, media, and tech trends.

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.