The holiday season in the United States represents the pinnacle of American commercialism, stretching out from October to January and encompassing the iconic festivities of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, without forgetting Hannukah and Kwanzaa. The increasingly early appearance of Christmas ads and decorations has led some to jokingly dub the season as “Hallowthanksmas.” The season is typically considered the busiest time of the year for the retail and advertising sectors alike, with an increase in trade that usually kicks off on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – and reaches its zenith around Christmas.
summed up to an impressive 929.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, for a cost of 1.9 billion dollars
Retail companies are ahead of the pack
Roughly three out of 10 U.S. marketers said they were planning to
spend more on holiday advertising in 2023 compared to the previous year. When it came to leading players, Walmart and Target were the brands that boasted the
highest consumer awareness during the 2022 holiday season.
Halloween
Halloween would not be Halloween without a hearty dose of candy, so it comes as no surprise to see
confection brands like Hershey's leading the way in digital advertising spending over the frightening festivity. Candy craze set aside, confectionery came second to arts and entertainment as the
category with the highest Halloween-themed digital advertising spending.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Black Friday falls on the fourth Friday of November each year, with its e-commerce counterpart Cyber Monday following three days later. The
two shopping days are some of the busiest of the year in the U.S., with an estimated 19.6 billion dollars raked in over the 2021 Thanksgiving weekend in e-commerce revenue alone. Such is their power that more than eight out of 10 retailers in the United States were
planning to offer related promotions in 2022. Walmart was the festivity’s
top digital advertiser, with a spend of six million dollars. A clear majority of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers heard about the weekend’s deals digitally, via online ads, promotional emails, or social media.
Christmas
The jolliest holiday of them all is customarily also the largest economic stimulant, with sales surging significantly in almost all retail areas. Since the 2008 recession, the
growth of Christmas holiday retail sales has been steady. Half of Christmas shoppers said they were most likely to
start buying holiday gifts before the end of October, with only one in 10 planning to start in December.
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