Now that the results are in for the holiday sales of 2025, what lessons can retailers learn about what’s ahead for 2026?
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Now that the 2025 holiday shopping season is over, retailers have a better understanding of modern shopping habits and the adjustments they need to execute in order to have a successful Black Friday and holiday season in 2026.
While days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday (BFCM), and Boxing Day are still some of the busiest retail days of the year, they are no longer the be-all end-all dates they once were. But that doesn’t mean retailers can’t have a record-breaking year; they just need to follow the lead of their customers and adapt accordingly.
Jim Herbert, CEO of Patchworks, puts it simply: “Peak trading no longer happens on a single, predictable day. What we’re seeing is demand arriving earlier, staying higher for longer, and continuing even on days that were once considered operational downtime.”
A Shift from Gadgetry to Practicality
Black Friday, a day that was once rooted in electronics bargains, has shifted to one where consumers are purchasing the bare necessities.
For example, according to data from Bazaarvoice, the top categories with the biggest surges in 2025, when compared to last year, were health and beauty, with a jump of 20.1%, food, beverage, and tobacco, with a 17.1% climb, and pets, with sales erupting by a 222.5% increase. In comparison, electronics dropped by 17.6%, and apparel dipped by 12.3%.
Clearly, the days when people lined up for hours to shop for big-ticket electronics are long gone as shoppers redistribute their resources more practically.
However, that doesn’t mean consumers aren’t spending. According to Bazaarvoice, EMEA retailers had a total order increase of 1.84% for Black Friday 2025. It appears that even in this volatile economy, shoppers are still spending, just in different areas, thus creating the new backbone of Black Friday’s success.
Social Media Had Its Biggest BFCM Ever
Impulse-friendly shopping has moved from novelty to default for many consumers in recent years. And with so many companies and influencers vying for attention online, it is no surprise retailers had their most successful BFCM to date on TikTok Shop in 2025.
Data from TikTok reports that 50% more people bought something on the platform this year compared to 2024. Additionally, choosing to advertise on livestreams proved beneficial for sellers as they experienced 84% growth in sales.
With the help of 1.6 billion views accumulated from livestreams, TikTok Shop’s BFCM four-day weekend generated over $500 million in sales for 2025.
Far from a Silent Night
Many probably associate Christmas Day with opening gifts and feasting, but shopping for bargains may be the new Christmas Day tradition. Patchworks found that Christmas Day wasn’t quiet as activity still hit around 70% of the month’s daily average.
According to Visualsoft, categories like food and beverage jumped 116% YoY on Christmas Day, whereas fashion and footwear had a 50% increase, and jewelry and watches had a 59% increase.
Shoppers are no longer waiting for Boxing Day for sales.
Chris Fletcher, CEO of Visualsoft, explains what this means for retailers: “This reinforces the importance of treating the entire period from Christmas Eve through to the end of December as a sustained sales window, rather than relying on a single post-Christmas spike.”
Asking AI for the Best Deals
For years now, online shopping has been on the rise, quickly becoming the preferred shopping method for most consumers. But the game has really changed in the last two years as AI has become a mainstream tool.
In fact, 37% of shoppers said they used AI in some way to help them make their purchases last year. That number increases to 53% when you narrow it to people aged 18-34.
When asked how they used AI, the answers varied: 43% of people used it to research products, while 34% had AI compare prices and deals, and even 31% generated gift ideas using smart tools—probably the most stressful decision when it comes to shopping for the holidays.
However, as searching for gifts is becoming a breeze, half of shoppers shared concerns about how AI makes it easy to overspend.
A New Playbook for Retailers
Patchwork data shows that 60% of retailers reported losses in 2025 due to being ill-prepared. So the vital lesson for sellers to take away is clear: readiness and adaptation.
Sales volume peaks are no longer just a few days, so staff should adjust accordingly. Furthermore, since shoppers have acquired more tools to find products, retailers should not only explore new marketing tactics, like livestreams and AI, but they should also be ready with inventory that fulfills demand.
As the average consumer changes the way they shop, companies must recalibrate or face a blue Christmas (and Black Friday) in 2026.