Commentary

Holiday Planning For Brands And Agencies Starts Right About...Now

by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 9, 2024

Source: Assembly

When should marketers and agencies start planning for the holiday sales season? How about now?

Or at the very latest when you get back from vacation.

A new report from Stagwell media agency Assembly says holiday shopping around the world this year will start earlier than ever—figure October it will be going on full swing.

And Black Friday? This year the big shopping day will morph into Cyber Friday with an estimated $14 billion in ecommerce sales expected that day alone, per the report.

Other highlights from the report:

In the U.S., modest 4.8% growth in holiday spending is predicted – with an emphasis on everyday items. E-commerce sales will grow 9.5%, and brick and mortar sales will increase 3.7%.

While Black Friday will be a huge ecommerce day, physical stores will remain important—serving as showrooms for product demonstrations and dialog with in-store reps.

One third of holiday shopping will begin in October.

Deep discounts are expected well before Halloween and there will be just 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In other parts of the world, UK consumers are the most optimistic entering the holiday season – with 46.8% expecting better personal finances during the next 12 months, compared with 37.6% in Germany and 29.7% in France.

The report has loads of advice by channel on how marketers and agencies can best prepare for the holiday shopping frenzy. See the full report here.