A new set of consumer data exclusively released to Chain Store Age offers hope to retailers looking for a happy holiday season. According to a survey of more than 1,000 shoppers conducted by artificial intelligence consulting firm Ankura, 24% of respondents had already started holiday shopping as of early October and 98% expect to start before mid-December, consistent with 2023 patterns.

Gen Z and Millennials are trending more toward earlier shopping compared to 2023. Only 23% of respondents plan to spend less this holiday season, a significant decrease from 31% in 2023, while 58% intend to maintain their spending at the same level as in 2023.

In terms of holiday shopping events, Amazon Prime Day has become the most popular, with 49% of respondents participating, surpassing Black Friday, which attracts 46%. Among surveyed online shoppers, Amazon Prime Day is particularly popular, with 56% showing a strong preference for it. The survey also found that more than four-in-10 (43%) respondents take part in Cyber Monday. However, surveyed in-store shoppers are less inclined to participate in peak holiday shopping days.

The majority of respondents (60%) plan to pay for holiday gift purchases with cash or debit cards, while 40% intend to use credit cards. Gen Z and Millennials lean heavily toward using cash/debit for their purchases, with 69% and 65% respectively choosing these methods.

Buy-now-pay-later services are also popular with the younger generations, with 47% of surveyed Gen Z and 40% of millennials expecting to increase their usage of these services.

The survey also indicates that the influence of social media on holiday purchases has slightly decreased, with 27% affected in 2024 compared to 34% in 2023. Additionally, Two-thirds (65%) of respondents say they are influenced by loyalty programs when choosing where to buy gifts.