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The trend: Walmart has begun rolling out 鈥淪ummer Frights鈥� Halloween displays in about 1,000 stores across the US, featuring quirky early-season items like watermelon jack-o鈥�-lanterns and ghost plushies in Hawaiian shirts. Our take: Walmart is smart to embrace offbeat retail moments like Summerween. While consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending, they continue to splurge on seasonal celebrations like Halloween and the holidays. Halloween alone has become a major retail event, with spending hitting $11.6 billion last year鈥攁 31.8% increase from pre-pandemic 2019. Summerween pulls some of that spending forward and gives budget-conscious shoppers a playful reason to open their wallets鈥攅ven if they鈥檙e feeling spooked by the economy.

The news: The gaming industry is doubling down on handheld consoles. Nintendo鈥檚 Switch 2 shattered single-day sales records with an estimated 3 million units sold at launch, outpacing the Sony PS4鈥檚 historic numbers. Meanwhile, Microsoft announced its first handhelds鈥攖he ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X鈥攑artnering with Asus to blend Xbox and PC gaming in a portable format. They鈥檙e expected to launch during the holidays. Our take: As cloud and console experiences merge into portable form, game design and ad models are set to evolve fast鈥攐pening up fresh real estate for marketers, game studios, and tech platforms alike.

Chinese consumers鈥� travel spending softened during a recent holiday: That鈥檚 a clear sign that confidence is strained due to trade tensions with the US.

Memorial Day sales are live at Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot, and more: As consumers cut discretionary spending, retailers aim to boost sales through holiday-driven promotions.

Holiday traffic surged with AI bots, but trust issues, security concerns, and web design flaws risk halting the agent revolution before it scales.

Planning for the holidays may be harder this year as tariffs cast a shadow over both consumers and retailers. 鈥淎s of right now, we鈥檙e seeing a lot of unusual consumer behavior that鈥檚 likely to persist as long as tariff uncertainty persists,鈥� said our analyst Sky Canaves, author of our 鈥淯S Holiday 2024 Recap and 2025 Preview鈥� report. Still, there are steps retailers can take to prepare. Here are three key strategies to help navigate a challenging holiday season.

This sponsored article by CommerceNext will explore impactful holiday campaigns.

National Burrito Day is this Thursday: Chipotle鈥檚 success with the made-up holiday has driven competitors like Qdoba, Moe鈥檚 Southwest Grill, and even 7-Eleven to offer their own burrito-centric deals.

A lot happens in a week, so every Friday we're going to analyze all the new data and provide you with some of the key takeaways. Welcome to the Friday 5. This week, teens want ads with products in action, consumers aren鈥檛 giving brands negative feedback, and St. Patrick鈥檚 Day doesn鈥檛 interest consumers as much as other holidays.

Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods had its best holiday quarter on record: While Q4 comparable sales soared past expectations, the retailer is tempering its outlook due to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Refined luxury thrived during the holidays: Shoppers splurged on timeless pieces from Coach and Ralph Lauren but held back on bolder, flashier styles from Versace and Michael Kors.

Amid shifting consumer priorities, competitive promotional activity, and an unusual calendar, brands and retailers must fine-tune their holiday 2024 marketing strategies to maximize sales during this critical period.

Disney鈥檚 password-sharing changes didn鈥檛 boost subscriptions鈥攜et: The company saw a slight dip in Disney+ subs as it faced a tough holiday period.

In January, the most interesting retailers capitalized on New Year鈥檚 trends like resolutions, lower-alcohol consumption, and an influx of holiday returns. Poshmark and Sephora introduced new partnerships, while Amazon and Temu increased their own retail media-related offerings. Here are the eight most significant retail developments of January 2024, ranked by their potential market impact.

Holiday spend, international transactions, and non-card payments boosted growth

Deckers relies on scarcity to drive Ugg, Hoka growth: That tactic paid off with record sales and profits during the holiday quarter.

Victoria鈥檚 Secret鈥檚 rebooted fashion show resonated with Gen Z: That, alongside the company鈥檚 efforts to expand and refresh its assortment, resulted in a solid holiday performance.

China manufacturing activity contracts ahead of Lunar New Year: While the blip may stem from holiday closures, it鈥檚 a worrying sign as the threat of tariffs looms large.