How Americans are approaching the holiday season
Two weeks from today, you might hear a knock at your door.
No, it’s not trick-or-treaters. It’s the start of the holiday season.
The end of 2025 and the holiday season are approaching faster than you might realize.
Below are five charts on when Americans plan to start their holiday shopping, the emotions Americans are feeling about the holidays, and how Americans are feeling about shopping and prices this holiday season.
- Ready or not, the holidays are here. Most holiday shoppers are planning to do their shopping between November and December, but for many, the holiday shopping season has already begun.
- Stressed, but happy and grateful. Everyone is stressed all the time. But entering the holiday season, stress is taking a backseat to gratefulness, happiness, and joy.
- Yeah, but how much do the holidays cost? Luckily, political differences aren’t the top reason Americans are anxious about the holidays. Instead, it’s prices. This lines up with consumer sentiment, which suggests price pressures haven’t dissipated, even years removed from the historic post-pandemic wave of inflation. Even during the holidays, it’s the economy, stupid.
- Who’s planning to spend more this holiday season? Even as prices remain a pressure, nearly half of young Americans plan on spending more this holiday season. Interestingly, it’s not just the wealthy: middle-income Americans are more likely to report planning to spend more this year than any other income bracket.
- To: You, From: ChatGPT. Artificial Intelligence is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Now, it’s becoming part of the holidays. To be clear, relatively few Americans plan to consult AI for gift ideas. But if you’re getting a gift from, say, your nephew who’s fresh out of college? There’s a good chance ChatGPT helped steer that purchase.
The holiday season is a time when Americans put aside the stressors of daily life to connect with family, friends, and religion. That said, the pressures of everyday life haven’t disappeared. In particular, prices – not politics – are the biggest stressor Americans are feeling this holiday season.
There also might be a new face at this year’s holiday gatherings. AI models like ChatGPT are being increasingly integrated into people’s daily lives and are becoming a voice young Americans are turning to in the holidays for gift ideas.
