HOLIDAY SHOPPERS WANT MORE THAN A RECOMMENDATION. THEY WANT TO SEE THE ARGUMENT.

3. 10. 2026 | 4 min read A friend's word still carries the most weight with holiday shoppers. But a close second is something brands rarely offer on their own: an honest account of a product's flaws. Some 41.9% of consumers said a trusted friend's recommendation or family member's recommendation made them feel confident in their last holiday purchase, according to a new survey of 1,001 US adults by EMARKETER and Reddit.

STUDY: US ADVERTISERS STARTING HOLIDAY CAMPAIGNS EARLIER

30. 9. 2026 | 3 min read The holiday advertising season is already underway. Research from Yahoo DSP finds that US advertisers are moving their holiday campaigns earlier, increasing budgets and prioritising deals and value as they compete for consumer spending.

RESEARCH UK: PHONE DISTRACTION TRIGGERS REWIND EFFECT

22. 9. 2026 | 4 min read Phone in one hand and TV remote in the other, 18–34s now lose 19 hours a year to rewatching TV they missed while scrolling, according to research by Uswitch, the comparison and switching service.

WHY HALLOWEEN SEEMS TO COME TO STORES EARLIER EVERY YEAR

1. 9. 2026 | 3 min read Consumers are shopping earlier, planning further ahead and turning Halloween into a full season.

SURVEY: CONSUMERS EXPECT INFLATION TO IMPACT HOLIDAY SPENDING PLANS

30. 7. 2026 | 3 min read Economic uncertainty is expected to make shoppers more diligent when holiday shopping this year.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS ARE NOT IGNORING AI

17. 7. 2026 | 5 min read Advertising and marketing hype has become heavily saturated with the term "agentic buying" for back-to-school purchases, but the distinction between actual transactional data and futuristic projection only becomes more blurred as the season gets underway.

MAJORITY OF BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS GET A HEAD START ON THE SEASON

14. 7. 2026 | 5 min read Consumers are getting an early start on back-to-school shopping, with 62% of shoppers having already started shopping for the school year by early July, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. While the figure is down slightly from 67% at the same point in 2025, it remains significantly higher than the 55% reported in 2024.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS HEAD TO MASS MERCHANTS, DEPARTMENT STORES

9. 7. 2026 | 4 min read Consumers are worried about their personal finances and plan to shop accordingly as value and affordability steer the market, according to Deloitte.

TV ADS TOP THE CHARTS FOR PURCHASES, AND FOR ANNOYANCE

24. 2. 2026 | 1 min read TV ads drive purchase behavior for 49% of consumers, making them the most effective channel, even though 36% find them disruptive, according to a January report from DISQO.

BLACK FRIDAY SPENDING AROUND THE WORLD: WHAT HAPPENED?

2. 12. 2025 | 3 min read Black Friday isn’t what it used to be – it’s much longer than the day for which it’s named, but it’s also more complex and trickier to read in a knotty global economic context; a few sources hint at the signals in the wider noise. Why Black Friday (or the whole week or month) matters Shopping holidays are a global phenomenon that have now shifted greatly into online shopping events. Originally a promotional, volume-driving tool, the shopping holiday became a critical growth driver for e-commerce sites like Amazon and Alibaba, which began the 11/11 Singles’ Day in China, especially when times were good, interest rates were low and the name of the game was outselling the competition.

ADVERTISERS REACT TO HOLIDAY CREEP BY PUSHING TV SPEND EARLIER

7. 11. 2025 | 5 min read Advertisers used to call the weeks following Halloween heading into Christmas the “hard eight”. Today, the commercial calendar is morphing in the face of altered shopping habits and brands that refuse to wait a month to capture market demand.

RESEARCH: YOUNG SHOP FAST, OLDER PLAN AHEAD

6. 11. 2025 | 4 min read While there are differences in shopping behaviour between generations, they have one thing in common: they want shopping to be clear, fair and human.

CHRISTMAS CREEP IS HERE AGAIN

3. 11. 2025 | 2 min read Brands and retailers on both sides of the Atlantic are bringing forward the launch of their holiday advertising campaigns, partly in response to consumers bringing forward their spending plans. What’s happening

MIDDLE-INCOME SHOPPERS FEEL THE HOLIDAY SQUEEZE

29. 10. 2025 | 1 min read Nearly half (49%) of US holiday shoppers earning $80K–$99K are worried that gifts will cost more this year, found a July survey from Bankrate.

CONSUMERS GET A HEAD START ON HOLIDAY SHOPPING

21. 10. 2025 | 1 min read 65% of US adults plan to begin their holiday shopping before Black Friday this year, according to data from McKinsey & Company.

STUDY USA: SHOPPERS TURN TO AI FIRST FOR RESEARCH

26. 9. 2025 | 1 min read More than half (53%) of US consumers turn to AI for conducting shopping research, per an August Adobe survey.

GEN Z EXPECTS TO MAKE STEEP CUTS TO THEIR HOLIDAY BUDGETS THIS YEAR

5. 9. 2025 | 1 min read US consumers overall will slash their holiday spending about 5% this year, while Gen Zers expect to cut it 23%, per Inkl.

30% OF SHOPPERS WILL REDUCE SPENDING THIS BLACK FRIDAY/CYBER MONDAY

3. 9. 2025 | 2 min read Wunderkind's survey shows that most consumers plan to take a more strategic approach this holiday season.