To capture a share of limited holiday gains, retailers and brands must zero in on pockets of opportunity across mobile commerce, social platforms, and consumer adoption of AI for shopping.

Shoppers across Western Europe are gearing up for a digital-first, deal-focused 2025 holiday season. Brands that better understand shifting consumer behaviors can refine their holiday strategies and capitalize on opportunities for growth.

OpenAI's new Instant Checkout feature for ChatGPT allows users to purchase products directly through the platform without ever leaving the interface, potentially creating a new retail channel that could reshape online shopping behaviors. However, analysts remain cautious about its immediate impact.

The news: Zip partnered with Nift to bring AI-powered “thank-you” gifts to its checkout flow, per company announcements. The integration brands send Zip users tailored offers after making a purchase, aiming to strengthen loyalty while creating new ad inventory. Our take: Zip’s tie-up with Nift illustrates how fintechs are positioning themselves not only as payment providers but also as media channels. The average BNPL users will spend more than $1,600 a year by 2029, per our forecast. As spend per user climbs, Nift’s native, post-checkout placements with conversion rates up to 10% will be especially appealing to both Zip and brands.

Consumer spending will be restrained during the 2025 holiday season as shoppers remain cautious amid ongoing economic uncertainty. That means retail and ecommerce will see the slowest growth since we started tracking the metrics.

Retail ended 2024 on a high note as mobile shopping drove ecommerce sales and stores staged a comeback. Will the 2025 holiday season be as fruitful?

Over half (54%) of US holiday shoppers expect to give clothing or accessories as gifts this year, the most popular gift category, according to a November 2024 survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics.

LEGO’s website is by far the most visited toy retail website among US consumers, with 5.89 million unique visitors in August 2024, according to data from Comscore Inc.

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.

Ecommerce growth accelerated during the 2023 holiday season as US consumers shifted more of their shopping to mobile devices.

Shoppers spent a record $12.4 billion this Cyber Monday: The lure of heavy discounts convinced cost-conscious consumers to open their wallets.

Ecommerce sales will return to double-digit growth this holiday season amid a backdrop of healthy consumer spending.

Retail media ads are an important way to boost marketplace spend, but how brands go about advertising requires strategy. When setting up your retail media approach this holiday season, consider which products sell when, what kinds of ads drive conversions, and the importance of discovery in retail media.

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 2022 holiday season’s solid retail sales gains were mostly attributable to inflation, but they nevertheless paint a cautiously optimistic picture for the 2023 holiday season.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues, the British Retail Consortium has warned there may be “more gloom than glitter” this Christmas. With families preoccupied with making ends meet, what can retailers expect from the festive trading period? This Analyst Take will explore how shopping habits might change, what will happen to total spend this holiday season, and how retailers can maintain loyalty and attract new customers amid inflation.

Christina Cubeta, chief merchandising officer of Florists’ Transworld Delivery (FTD), shared with Insider Intelligence how cultural trends impact the creation of their products.

The 2021 holiday season saw the highest retail growth in 20 years, setting the stage for a solid 2022 holiday season.

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.

Many consumers’ shopping behaviors have moved online in recent months, and that trend is likely to continue through the holiday shopping season.