The 2025 holiday shopping season has begun, and consumers have concerns. Inflation and tariffs are on their minds, but so is their love of tradition and buying gifts for family and friends. Our annual PissedConsumer.com survey let shoppers share their expectations and insights into this year’s holiday shopping trends. Learn what consumers think of the current economy and how it could impact gift prices. Find out where Black Friday falls when it comes to favorite seasonal sales. And learn how technology, including AI tools and social shopping, might impact the current holiday shopping season. We’ll also share tips on how you can save money, with ideas directly from your fellow holiday shoppers. What Are the Biggest Holiday Shopping Trends for 2025? Consumers expect inflation and tariffs to impact prices amid decreasing holiday shopping budgets. Holiday shopping starts early this year, with 46.7% of consumers beginning between August and October. Almost 60% of holiday shoppers say Black Friday is no longer relevant. Social shopping lags behind other buying options, with only 8.8% expected to use it, but seniors are more likely to embrace it. Expect AI to have minimal impact on holiday shopping, with only 10.8% of consumers planning to use AI tools. How Much Consumers Plan to Spend This Holiday Shopping Season? Holiday shopping budgets are down this year. While 30.3% of shoppers say they spent $1000+ last year around the holidays, only 25% of consumers plan to do the same in 2025. Conversely, the number of consumers with low holiday shopping budgets is increasing. In 2024, only 4.7% spent just $1-99. This year, that number increased to 7%. We’re also seeing a significant increase in the budget range of $100-499 (32.2% in 2024 versus 38% in 2025). At the same time, 24.5% of our total survey respondents say they don’t plan to shop at all this holiday season. Does Inflation Put Pressure on Holiday Budgets? How will inflation affect holiday spending this year? We asked consumers if they were concerned about inflation leading to higher prices, and 64.9% of holiday shoppers said “yes.” While a majority is worried about inflation-adjusted prices impacting budgets, that’s fewer consumers than last year. In our 2024 holiday shopping trends survey, 74.1% of consumers said they were concerned about inflation. Whether this means shoppers see pricing signs that leave them more optimistic, or if they’ve simply adjusted their expectations, remains to be seen. Retailers can help alleviate these concerns either way by focusing on what customers love most about the holiday shopping experience beyond tradition (52%). That’s finding a good deal (29%). Will Tariffs Raise New Questions About Holiday Shopping Costs? While consumers might prefer not to think about politics around the holiday season, this year is an exception for many. We found that 63% of holiday shoppers are concerned about tariffs when it comes to their budget this year. Between trade tensions and changing U.S. tariff policies, consumers may experience increased costs, particularly when shopping online for imported goods. In some cases, buyers won’t be aware of the full tariff costs up front, leading to the potential for unpleasant budget surprises. While consumers anticipate higher prices, retailers should be prepared for how this sentiment could impact overall holiday sales. Options to overcome these worries include making it clear when goods are, or are not, subject to tariffs. Retailers can also offer late holiday sales to account for potential delayed purchases as some consumers wait to see if tariff policies change. Download Report Holiday Shopping Trend: Nearly Half of Consumers Shop Before November Retailers waiting to launch their best holiday sales until closer to Christmas might miss out on buyers’ limited budgets this year. That’s because 46.7% of consumers begin their holiday shopping between August and October. In addition to stores running earlier and extended holiday sales, this might also be due to consumer skepticism about holiday pricing. In our survey, 21.5% of people said a reason they might not shop this holiday season is because they believe retailers manipulate prices around the holidays. For example, this would include raising prices before applying holiday discounts. Have Extended Sales Killed the Black Friday Frenzy? Gone are the days of hectic Black Friday sales with horror stories ranging from impossible parking to fights breaking out over the hottest toys. As of 2025, 65.6% of consumers say Black Friday is no longer relevant. Another 20.2% of holiday shoppers said that Black Friday is still relevant, but less important to them than in years past. With retailers extending Black Friday sales from a day to weeks in recent years, consumer expectations and holiday shopping plans are changing. Rather than race from store to store seeking the season’s best deals on Black Friday, these extended sales and online holiday shopping help consumers find savings without the stress. Will the Stores or the Screen Win Holiday Shoppers? In our PissedConsumer.com survey, we asked how consumers are shopping for the holidays. A significant majority (65.3%) plan to buy both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. For those dedicated to just one shopping strategy, in-store shoppers (22.21%) beat out online-only shoppers (12.6%) this year. That said, retailers can expect online outreach to bring in customers of both groups. In addition to email marketing, brand websites, and social media, consumers say the top way they learn about deals is through online ads (61%). E-commerce Holiday Trends: Is Social Shopping Catching On? In a world saturated with social media platforms and influencers, you might expect social shopping (also known as social commerce) to have a significant impact on online shopping trends this holiday season. Yet only 8.8% of consumers say they’ll buy from retailers on social media. Retailers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram should take note: social commerce buyers might not be who they expect. Our holiday shopping statistics reveal that seniors (aged 65+) are the age group most likely to buy via social media in 2025, with 37.04% planning to shop through these platforms. Not far behind were 55-64 year-olds, with 33.33% expecting to engage in social shopping this holiday season. AI Won’t Change How Many Consumers Shop for the Holidays… Yet With all the buzz around AI, don’t expect it to have a major impact on how consumers shop this holiday season. Only 10.8% of respondents said they plan to use AI tools to assist with their holiday shopping. While retailers might use AI for better targeting and product recommendations, many consumers aren’t yet on board with AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude being integrated into their shopping process. Over 20% of surveyed consumers either didn’t know what AI tools were yet, or they didn’t know they could help with holiday shopping. What Are the Top Product Categories on Consumers’ Wish Lists? Essentials like shoes and clothing, gift certificates/gift cards, and toys and games are the top three product categories holiday shoppers intend to buy in 2025. Need additional ideas on what buyers are looking for, or what to add to your own holiday shopping list? Here are the top ten product categories consumers are seeking this year: Where can consumers find these items? We also asked about buyers’ favorite stores for holiday shopping. What Are the Most Popular Stores for Holiday Shoppers? Amazon can expect to be the biggest online holiday shopping destination this season, with Walmart being the most anticipated option for hybrid online and in-store shoppers. According to PissedConsumer.com holiday shopping trends, here are the ten most popular stores for holiday shoppers in 2025, along with the percentage of respondents who plan to buy from each store or marketplace: While big names top shoppers’ lists this year, it’s important to consider all options. For example, consumers might find deals when they support local small businesses or buy second-hand from online marketplaces. How Can Consumers Save on Holiday Shopping in 2025? With consumers worried about rising prices and shrinking budgets, every dollar needs to stretch this holiday season. Our survey respondents shared their ideas on how to save. Here are five of the top ways consumers plan to save money on holiday shopping in 2025, along with the percentage of respondents expecting to rely on each strategy: Wait for the big holiday sales. (48.1%) Shop earlier to take advantage of more sales opportunities. (30.6%) Use coupons for your holiday shopping. (16.7%) Consider creating DIY gifts this year. (11%) Buy fewer gifts overall. (27.7%) Based on consumer sentiment toward Black Friday this year (with over 65% saying it isn’t relevant anymore), shoppers and retailers alike should take advantage of other sales. That might include events like Cyber Monday or Small Business Saturday, as well as store-specific promotions. When it comes to coupons, remember to look beyond grocery savings for holiday meals. Retailers can get the attention of consumers with store coupons (such as a percentage off their entire purchase), and shoppers can save more by seeking out online shopping coupons for products sold on Amazon and other e-commerce stores. As for buying fewer gifts to save money, consumers have options. That might mean forgoing workplace gift exchanges, focusing on one larger gift over many smaller ones where costs add up, or limiting gift-giving to their closest family and friends. Conclusion Many consumers will have tighter budgets this holiday shopping season, all while they anticipate price increases due to inflation and tariffs. For shoppers, that means deal-hunting and other savings strategies are more important than ever. For retailers, that means appealing to more frugal customers by getting their best sales in front of buyers before those holiday shopping budgets dwindle. Holiday shopping is already underway. With 17.8% of potential buyers still unsure if they’ll shop this holiday season, retailers have opportunities to convince them with the right sales, products, and promotional outreach. While many consumers aren’t embracing holiday shopping assistance from AI tools and social shopping options yet, brick-and-mortar stores should expect to shine this year. As with any year, consumers each have their own holiday shopping preferences and concerns. The PissedConsumer.com survey on holiday shopping trends 2025 can help them avoid unexpected costs while empowering retailers with new insights into consumer behavior this holiday season. Download Report Methodology Online reviews and reputation management platform, PissedConsumer.com, conducted an online holiday shopping survey among its website users. The survey provides holiday shopping statistics and consumer behavior insights from 1058 respondents. These consumers represent the United States (75.3%), Canada (10.7%), the United Kingdom (9.7%), and Australia (4.3%). The gender breakdown of respondents is 58.2% female, 39.8% male, and 2% other or preferring not to share. PissedConsumer.com’s surveyed consumers swayed heavily toward senior participants. This holiday shopping data is current as of September 2025. For more holiday shopping insights or a quote, download the full PissedConsumer 2025 Holiday Shopping Trends Report and contact us at media@pissedconsumer.com