Holiday shopping habits are changing so fast that, for advertisers, crafting campaigns can feel like trying to hit a moving target.
Frustrating as these shifts may be for marketers and media planners, their emergence marks an evolution in the marketing funnel that’s critical for advertisers to understand. As platforms increasingly blur the line between browsing and buying, traditional shopping patterns—such as the gradual build from early research to Black Friday purchases—are giving way to more condensed customer journeys. The rise of social commerce, in particular, highlights this shift.
Below, we break down the trends behind this evolution—and what marketers need to do to evolve their strategies for the holiday season and beyond.
The digital marketplace is now firmly entrenched as holiday shoppers’ top option: In 2024, 90% of gift givers purchased gifts online vs. 68% who purchased them in-store.
However, the journey to purchase remains a hybrid one: This year, most shoppers plan to split their gift buying between online and in person, while just 5% expect to shop exclusively in person and only 8% plan to shop solely online.
In this context, to best capture holiday spend, marketing teams should craft digital-first strategies that reach consumers seamlessly across both online and in-store touchpoints. Doing so will require a deeper investment in understanding how target audiences behave across both spaces.
Among shoppers looking for inspiration, social media has firmly established itself as a core resource. In 2024, social platforms ranked third through sixth among the most-used sources for gift ideas, behind only friends and family and search engines.
But social media is growing from a space primarily for inspiration into a destination for product discovery and purchasing as well. US retail social commerce is forecast to grow from $85.58 billion in 2025 to $137.06 billion in 2028—and this holiday season, social commerce is set to play an even greater role in guiding shoppers’ journeys.
As these shifts take hold, advertisers need to reframe social media not just as an awareness tool, but as a full-funnel driver of holiday sales. By matching their strategies to evolving consumer behavior through social commerce adoption, brands can gain a competitive edge this holiday season.
Social commerce is gaining traction across all age groups, with 18% of US consumers planning to buy gifts directly through social media this holiday season. That figure jumps to 26% for millennials and 35% for Gen Z, underscoring the channel’s long-term potential—and the need for advertisers to adapt their strategies to fit these consumers’ behaviors and expectations.
Younger generations are especially important for brands to reach given their growing economic influence. Millennials now represent the largest generation in the US, with significant spending power. Gen Z, which is on track to be both the largest and wealthiest generation in US history, is poised to surpass Baby Boomers in spending in just a few years. And on the heels of Gen Z, Gen Alpha’s economic influence is projected to reach a whopping $5.46 trillion by 2029.
To build relevance with these consumers, brands should establish robust social media presences and strategize around how to leverage social as one aspect of a hybrid, omnichannel approach to holiday campaigns. For maximum impact, teams should prioritize platforms where their target audiences are most engaged and ensure their creative and messaging align with each platform’s unique shopping behaviors.
What’s happening on social platforms offers a window into broader shifts across digital advertising. This holiday season, 9% of all shoppers report plans to purchase a gift directly through an online ad. Among millennials, that number rises to 14%.
These behaviors point to a shrinking gap between inspiration and purchase, as platforms increasingly streamline the path to conversion. And it’s not just happening on social media: Other channels are evolving in the same direction, from shoppable TV to commerce media more broadly. For advertisers, capitalizing on these trends means designing holiday campaigns that collapse the funnel: meeting consumers where they’re inspired and making it easy to convert in the same moment. This marks more than just a shift in tactics—it requires a fundamental rethinking of strategy, where media, creative, and commerce are planned as a unified experience.
Online shopping is reshaping the path to purchase, particularly during the holiday shopping season. To capture demand, advertisers must embrace digital-first strategies that reflect the new funnel: one where inspiration and conversion can happen in the same moment on virtually any channel.
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Looking for more insights to inform your holiday campaigns? In our latest webinar, Get Ahead of the Holidays: Your June Jumpstart to Q4 Wins, digital advertising experts explore exclusive holiday shopping research and unpack what it all means for advertisers.
