See the latest holiday shopping stories from Insider Intelligence

Retail sales for the 2021 US holiday season will soar as brick-and-mortar shopping returns with a vengeance and ecommerce maintains double-digit growth rates.

The 2020 holiday season’s unprecedented ecommerce surge helped total US retail spending remain positive, setting the tone for healthy outlook for 2021 holiday season growth.

This will be a tough year for holiday season retail in the UK. Shoppers will spend less in 2020, and much of their spend will fall outside the traditional November–December time frame, leading to the lowest holiday retail sales total since 2015.

The 2020 US holiday season, set amid the backdrop of a pandemic-driven consumer economy, will see an unprecedented shift to ecommerce.

Despite lackluster economic projections at the start of 2020, consumers in Mexico initially shared a collective sense of optimism about the year ahead. However, the pandemic changed that.

The 2019 holiday season capped a tough year for physical retailers in the UK, with brick-and-mortar sales down for the second year running. However, strong gains in retail ecommerce sales meant that overall, retail sales saw growth during the season.

The 2019 holiday season posted modest retail sales growth amid a strong consumer economy but challenging calendar. With more economic risks ahead, the 2020 season may be even more challenged for growth.

In a RetailMeNot survey, 68% of consumers said this year’s compressed holiday shopping season will affect their shopping and 15% said they’ll be more stressed about getting their shopping done on time.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Peter Vahle discusses our recently lowered holiday retail sales outlook, and the $1 trillion season projection still within arms’ reach.

If Amazon is poised to gain share in the first half of the final week before Christmas, click-and-collect orders will tip the scales in the direction of big-box merchants during the second half of that week.

Positive US macroeconomic conditions will contribute to the first-ever $1 trillion holiday season, but retailers facing a series of headwinds should pay attention to seven key trends that will determine their ultimate success.

More than two-thirds of shoppers (68%) surveyed in RetailMeNot’s annual Holiday Insights guide said this year’s compressed holiday shopping season will change the way they shop. About one-third (34%) said they will start looking for deals earlier than they did last year, and 28% plan to start buying gifts sooner than they did in 2018.

2018 was a banner year for US holiday retail sales across both brick-and-mortar and ecommerce. But with more economic uncertainty ahead, the 2019 holiday season is not shaping up to be quite as strong.

The 2018 holiday season brought big rises in digital sales in Western Europe. The online grocery sector also experienced growth last year. Meanwhile, Amazon and Alibaba have both set their sights on major gains in the region.

For this holiday edition of the Weekly Listen podcast, we dig into some surprising data about Christmas, and welcome a unexpected visitor in the studio.

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.