Holiday retail is shifting in 2025. J.P. Morgan’s recent analysis shows a strong pivot toward omnichannel holiday shopping, especially among younger consumers who now mix early online research with in-store validation. Their habits around timing, payment methods, and channel-switching set the tone for the wider holiday shopping season.
Forbes highlights another shift. Shoppers’ “quest for value.” Even with higher prices, nearly half of shoppers say they’ll cut back in other areas to fund holiday spending. The reality is, people still want to buy, but they just want purchases to feel purposeful and worth their time.
TruRating’s polling of over 23,000 shoppers echoes this. Across grocery, convenience, fashion, and luxury, customers are more alert, more analytical, and more deliberate. Over 70% say prices feel higher than last year, and nearly three-quarters say they compare more often. Yet the surprising insight is that these shifts haven’t reduced holiday spending… they’ve reshaped it.
Download our 2025 holiday retail trends guide to see what’s changed since the 2024 holiday season and what retailers should expect from this year’s value-conscious shoppers. We explore the patterns influencing consumer spending, conversion, and basket size this year.
Download the 2025 holiday retail trends guide
Holiday shopping trends 2025
The 2025 holiday seasion is being shaped by a shopper who is still willing to spend but is far more intentional about how they do it. You can see it in the rise of hybrid shopping, the increase in comparison behavior, and the way people move between channels before deciding where to buy.
This year, more shoppers start their search online and finish the purchase in-store. It’s become a normal part of the holiday shopping season that people want to check stock, confirm value, and make sure the trip feels worth it. That’s one of the biggest differences retailers will notice as holiday spending builds.
Another clear trend is the growing expectation around value clarity. Heavy discounts aren’t enough. Shoppers want simple pricing, honest offers, and clear communication. When something feels confusing or inconsistent, they either wait or switch retailers without hesitation. It’s a much more deliberate approach to holiday shopping than we saw even a year ago.
We’re also seeing a shift in trip patterns. Instead of one big shop, many shoppers spread their missions out. They make more frequent stops, check multiple retailers, and treat each visit as a chance to confirm whether the store still deserves their spend. This spreads foot traffic across the full shopping season, not just the major sale days.
And while deals still attract attention, trust has become just as important. Shoppers want stores that deliver a straightforward experience, fair prices, helpful staff, low-friction checkout, will capture more consumer spending even without deep markdowns.
Put simply, shoppers are still buying. But they’re doing it on their own terms, and they expect retailers to make every step of the holiday shopping journey feel easy and fair.
Read the holiday trends report for the data and full analysis.
How shopper behavior has changed since 2024
Shopper behavior has shifted in a few meaningful ways since 2024, and the change is easy to see in the data.
First, people feel more comfortable spending than they did in 2024, even with higher prices. In our polling, the number of shoppers who describe themselves as “conservative” with money has steadily dropped. They’re not reckless, but they’re not holding back the way they did last year.
Second, shoppers now want immediate value. Discounts still matter, but only when they feel clear and fair. Long-term loyalty rewards or complicated point systems don’t land as well as simple offers they can use right away. This mindset is shaping how people move through stores, how they compare, and what convinces them to buy.
And third, shopping patterns are more flexible. Instead of getting everything done early, many shoppers spread their trips across the whole holiday period. They make smaller missions, look for quick wins, and switch retailers easily if something feels off. It’s a more fluid, more adaptive style of holiday shopping, one that rewards retailers who make each visit feel worth it.
Read the holiday trends report for holiday sales insights and strategies.
What these holiday shopping trends and statistics mean
Holiday shoppers in 2025 aren’t hard to understand. They’re thoughtful, practical, and paying close attention. They expect value to be obvious, and they want the experience (online or in-store) to feel smooth and fair. The retailers who win this season won’t be the ones shouting the loudest. They’ll be the ones who offer clarity when shoppers are comparing, confidence when shoppers are unsure, and consistency when stores are busy.
What our guide makes clear is that value-conscious customers don’t reward guesswork. They reward retailers who act on real information. They want stores to know that clear pricing, straightforward offers, helpful staff, and a quick path through the shop matter to them. And they notice immediately when those things slip, especially during the peak holiday shopping season when small moments have a big impact.
This is where real-time insight becomes essential. Relying on surveys or month-end reports won’t help stores adjust fast enough. Leaders need visibility into what’s happening now, which behaviors are showing up on the floor, which friction points are slowing people down, and which stores need help before performance drops. When teams have that signal, they coach better, move faster, and focus on the things that actually change revenue.
That’s what TruRating was built to support. We give retailers the live, store-level feedback they need to stay ahead of shifting expectations and to turn good intentions into reliable execution. And we help frontline teams deliver the moments that keep shoppers coming back during the busiest shopping season of the year.
This article only scratches the surface. The full guide breaks down the numbers, the behaviors, and the practical steps you can use to drive larger baskets and protect loyalty during the most important dates on the retail calendar.
