Summer vacations are still winding down, but retail marketers are already in the thick of holiday shopping.
Back-to-shopping is significantly smaller than holiday spending, but marketers closely watch consumer spending in the early fall to predict what holiday spending will look like.
U.S. consumers spent an estimated $85.4 billion on back-to-school shopping this year, with $32.4 billion happening through ecommerce, according to Emarketer. To compare, U.S. holiday spend is expected to top $1.4 trillion this year, up from $1.3 trillion in 2025. Ecommerce will contribute to $304 billion in holiday spend, up from $284 billion last year.
However, this year’s holiday sales aren’t expected to grow at the same clip as this year’s total retail sales: Total retail sales are expected to grow 4.3%
