The 2026 holiday strategy playbook

What did consumer spending look like during the 2025 holiday shopping season?

Summer is the best time to kick off holiday planning. To help you put your best foot forward, we asked consumers in earlyJanuary to break down how much they actually spent during the 2025 holiday season—while it was still fresh.​

We covered top spending categories, timing, how they used AI, the in-store vs. online breakdown and the impact of cost increases on shopping decisions. With this inside look, your holiday marketing strategy will be even more precise.​

After all, the most successful marketers will be those who lean into what they can control, like value-driven messaging, operational efficiency, and smart integration of online and in-store experiences.

3 key findings from Epsilon’s 2026 holiday strategy playbook

1. Nearly 30% of consumers used AI to help them with holiday shopping. ​

​More than half of Gen Z and 41% of millennials said they used AI for holiday shopping. Most consumers used AI for gift ideas and price comparisons. Other top use cases included food or meal ideas, looking for deals and discounts, and product recommendations.

Most users found AI tools to be effective for holiday shopping and planning, but 22% found that AI offered irrelevant recommendations and suggestions,
19% had privacy or data security concerns and 18% said the tools generated inaccurate or biased information. ​

2. Holiday advertising drove shopping decisions across paid, owned and shared channels, especially for younger generations. ​

As marketers, we always want to know what ad mix will give us the biggest bang for our buck.

It’s clear that social media advertisements are most likely to drive purchases this holiday season, but web and email channels are a safe bet too. For other channels, it depends on the audience you’re trying to reach and the type of product you’re selling.

It’s key to partner with a data and identity solution that can help you efficiently reach more customers for tailored omnichannel recommendations based on your business needs.

3. Most consumers started shopping for the holiday season in November and continued well into December. ​

Across generations, November and December were the most popular times to shop, but there were small generational differences worth noting.

The last two weeks of November (around Black Friday) were the most popular time for millennials and Gen X to start shopping, while boomers were more likely to get most of their shopping done in September or October. ​

Download the full research report to learn more about:

• 5 strategies for navigating the ​2026 holiday season​
• Holiday spending broken down ​by generation ​
• How consumers used AI for ​holiday shopping
• Timing of holiday shopping​
• The split between in-store and online shopping​
• How much consumers spent and how they managed price increases