Holiday Shopping Study Reveals Creators' Influence on Consumer Behavior and Trends

LTK's 2025 Holiday Shopper Study reveals that creators are the most influential forces in the retail economy, with 70% of consumers making purchases based on their recommendations. Trust in creators has jumped 21% year-over-year, and self-gifting is on the rise, with 90% of consumers planning to shop for themselves while buying gifts for others. Product availability has become the top priority for holiday purchases, with 53% of consumers expecting inventory shortages.

Retailers are increasingly stretching traditional holiday shopping periods into longer seasons and creating new shopping moments throughout the year, according to a recent analysis by EMARKETER. This shift is driven by consumers becoming more strategic about their spending and retailers seeking to drive consistent traffic [1].

Traditional holidays, such as Halloween, are expanding into seasons. "Summerween," a trend that began as a niche subculture reference from the show "Gravity Falls" and gained mainstream traction through social media, exemplifies this trend. Retailers like Walmart and Michaels are introducing Halloween-themed merchandise as early as July, reflecting the growing demand for extended holiday periods [1].

Economic concerns are accelerating this shift. Budget-conscious consumers are spreading their spending across more months and taking advantage of summer sales events like Amazon's Prime Day for better prices [1]. Amazon's Prime Day, which started as a one-day event 10 years ago and now spans multiple days, has established July as a major shopping period. Competitors have responded by creating their own summer sales events, such as Macy's "Black Friday in July" and "Christmas in July" promotions [1].

This evolving holiday calendar creates both opportunities and challenges for retailers. Extended shopping seasons and new events provide more opportunities to drive traffic and sales, especially for those with retail media networks who can monetize this traffic through advertising [1]. However, it also means consumers are increasingly conditioned to wait for sales, potentially eroding full-price purchases [1].

TUI AG, a leading global tourism company, has seen the benefits of this shift. In its Q3 2025 results, TUI reported a record performance in its Holiday Experiences segment, driven by strong demand and higher rates for its unique and differentiated products [2]. The company's vertically integrated business model and reduced seasonality have contributed to its successful strategic progress and improved financial performance.

The LTK's 2025 Holiday Shopper Study reveals that creators are the most influential forces in the retail economy, with 70% of consumers making purchases based on their recommendations [3]. Trust in creators has jumped 21% year-over-year, and self-gifting is on the rise, with 90% of consumers planning to shop for themselves while buying gifts for others. Product availability has become the top priority for holiday purchases, with 53% of consumers expecting inventory shortages [3].

Retailers need to be strategic about which holidays they emphasize and how they position them. "Retailers really need to think about their strategy and think about holidays as either a branding play or a performance play and to really think about that emotional connection versus the purely promotional connection," said EMARKETER analyst Suzy Davidkhanian [1].

References:
[1] https://www.emarketer.com/content/prime-day-summerween--retail-calendar-being-reinvented
[2] https://www.tradingview.com/news/eqs:ffe90955b094b:0-tui-delivers-best-ever-q3-result-driven-by-a-record-holiday-experiences-performance-fy-2025-underlying-ebit-guidance-raised-to-9-11/
[3] LTK's 2025 Holiday Shopper Study