US retail ecommerce sales for the holiday season thus far (Nov. 1 through Nov. 26) generated $58.5 billion, a 19.9% increase from last year, according to research from Adobe.

As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches, the holiday shopping season is kicking into overdrive. Retailers are ready for the surge in consumer spending on Black Friday, but what shopper behaviors should they expect? We break down three key trends for the holiday weekend.

The UK holiday shopping season is on pace to hit two major milestones this year. The holiday season, which eMarketer defines as November and December, is the most important retail period in nearly all major European markets.

Digital plays a bigger role in UK retailing than ever, but the physical store isn’t dead. Rather, consumers want a seamless experience that allows them to switch between channels, devices and locations at will.

Singles’ Day is the world’s biggest shopping event, and Black Friday is just around the corner. Holiday shopping is a major driver of retail and ecommerce around the world, but spending and which holidays drive the most activity vary by region.

Even with the ubiquity of digital buying, the in-store shopping experience continues to have importance. And even more so with younger consumers.

Retailers believe that early birds and primetime shoppers are the most important holiday audience. Procrastinators? Not so much.

Nearly half of US internet users surveyed by Periscope By McKinsey said they plan to shop for Black Friday deals online.

A positive US macroeconomic backdrop points to strong growth across every retail channel, but retailers should pay attention to seven key trends that will determine their ultimate success for the 2018 holiday season.

For the 2018 holiday season, eMarketer expects total US retail sales to grow 4.1% to $986.8 billion, with ecommerce jumping 16.2% to $123.4 billion.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, holiday shoppers have 32 days to complete their gift-giving checklists. This is the most time retailers will ever have, and it only happens every seven years. Dawn Erksa, senior director of marketing for The Home Depot spoke with eMarketer's Danielle Drolet about the home improvement giant's upcoming seasonal plans.

As we coast into October, the holiday season is just on the horizon. What changes in shopping behavior can retailers expect this year?

Mounting evidence shows that the holiday shopping season is starting sooner. But is this Christmas creep consumer-driven or the result of retailers planting seeds in the public's mind earlier in the year?

This eMarketer StatPack lays out statistics around the major shopping holidays in Asia-Pacific that drive shopping in similar ways as Western holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. In China, Japan and Indonesia, Singles’ Day drives ecommerce activity in November. Indonesia also has a holiday in Q4 known as Harbolnas. India celebrates the gift-giving holiday of Diwali in the fall. South Korea’s Q4 holiday shopping centers around the recently launched “Korea Sale Festa,” while Australia has a November “Click Frenzy” sales day that fuels ecommerce holiday shopping.

This report analyzes the holiday shopping habits of consumers in Europe, particularly the adoption of Black Friday.