Loading...

Three insights from our 2023 Holiday spending report

Updated : February 20, 2026 by Hayley Schneider, Sr. Manager, Content Marketing 4 min read September 14, 2023

At A Glance

Holiday spending is starting earlier, shifting further online, and holding steady year-over-year. Experian’s 2023 Holiday spending trends and insights report shows promotions pulling demand into October and November, steady consumer intent across the season, and growing overlap between online and in-store journeys. For marketers, that means planning sooner, connecting channels more deliberately, and measuring performance across the full holiday window.

Holiday shopping no longer starts in December. Consumers are responding to earlier promotions, moving fluidly between online and physical stores, and maintaining consistent spending despite economic uncertainty. Experian’s 2023 Holiday spending trends and insights report breaks down what’s changing and how marketers can respond.
 
Here are three holiday spending insights shaping the 2023 holiday season.

1. Holiday spending is starting earlier

Holiday momentum now builds well before December. Promotions tied to Cyber Week and early online deals are shifting spending into October and November, extending the window for planning and activation.

Holiday sales by month vs. holiday sales (October-December)

OctoberNovemberDecember
202231%33%36%
202130%32%38%
202031%32%37%
201930%33%38%

Cyber Week alone accounts for 8% of total holiday spending. Early activity rewards brands that show up sooner with relevant offers and consistent messaging. Marketers that plan for earlier holiday spending stay visible throughout the entire purchase cycle.

How can you apply these holiday spending insights to your campaigns?

Reach the right shoppers with your promotions with sell-side targeting. This approach gives you control over where ads appear while supporting visibility through direct publisher connections across mobile, web, and connected TV (CTV). Earlier reach helps keep your brand present as shoppers move from browsing to buying.

2. Online holiday spending continues to grow

Shoppers are increasingly researching, comparing prices, and planning purchases online. Online holiday spending increased 1% year-over-year, while in-store activity saw a 1% year-over-year decrease.

Online vs. in-store sales in 2022 by month (October-December)

OctoberNovemberDecember
Online29%34%38%
In-store32%32%36%

Online sales still represent about one-third of total holiday shopping, but growth opportunities remain strong, especially in categories like electronics, office supplies, and gaming. Even when purchases happen in-store, online activity often plays a role earlier in the journey.

How can you apply these holiday spending insights to your campaigns?

Support omnichannel shopping behavior with an agnostic identity graph. By connecting device and media signals, you can bring together online and offline activity, gain a clearer view of your audience, and make informed decisions about channel mix and budget allocation.

A picture of a woman with four icons surrounding her that represent a TV, cell phone, house, and email

3. Holiday spending remains steady year-over-year

Holiday spending in 2023 is tracking closely with 2022, signaling consistent consumer intent throughout the season. Last year’s early promotional response in October was followed by steady spending through year end.

Year-over-year change on average consumer spending

OctoberNovemberDecember
2020 vs. 201914%12%10%
2021 vs. 20206%8%5%
2022 vs. 20217%3%2%

    Overall holiday spending increased by 2% in 2022. That stability gives marketers room to focus on optimization and measurement, rather than reacting to short-term swings. When conditions remain consistent, it becomes easier to tie media decisions to meaningful business outcomes.

    How can you apply these holiday spending insights to your campaigns?

    Strengthen your strategy with data enrichment. Adding deeper insight into shopper preferences and behaviors helps tailor messaging and maintain consistency across channels, supporting stronger connections throughout the season.

    Key takeaways

    Holiday spending is starting earlier, driven by promotions in October and November

    Online shopping continues to grow, with online and in-store journeys closely connected

    Overall holiday spending remains consistent with last year, supporting confident planning

    Get ready for the 2025 holiday season

    2025 Holiday spending trends and insights report

    Download Experian’s 2025 Holiday spending trends and insights report, in collaboration with GroundTruth. Inside you’ll find:

    • When shoppers plan to buy
    • Why stores still drive results
    • Where marketers are placing their bets
    • How AI is shaping discovery

    Access our full set of predictions and plan your next holiday season now.

    2025 Holiday spending trends and insights

    Connect with us

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


    FAQs

    What holiday spending trends does Experian expect marketers to plan around in 2023?

    Experian’s 2023 holiday spending analysis shows shoppers starting earlier, engaging more through digital channels, and maintaining steady year-over-year spend. These behaviors extend the season and reward brands that activate sooner. For marketers, this creates a longer runway to influence demand and measure impact.

    How does Experian help marketers connect online and in-store holiday spending?

    Experian uses identity as the foundation to connect digital exposure with in-store and online purchase behavior. This approach allows marketers to see how holiday spending unfolds across channels rather than treating each interaction separately. The result is a clearer view of how media drives outcomes throughout the season.


    Latest posts

    Loading…
    Tapad, a part of Experian, partners with Sojern to simplify the complex travel consumer journey

    Tapad Device Graph™ and Sojern’s mobile offering unify travel intent signals; achieve amplification rate of more than 600 percent NEW YORK, June 15, 2017 – Tapad, a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, is partnering with Sojern, travel’s direct demand engine, to provide marketers with an even stronger understanding of travelers as they research and shop across multiple devices. Combined with its 350 million global traveler profiles and billions of predictive purchase intent signals, Sojern utilizes the Tapad Device Graph™ to resolve the complex travel consumer journey, target travelers more precisely, and derive more actionable insights for its travel clientele. According to Sojern’s research, travelers visit hundreds of websites preceding their trip purchase, with some consumers reaching upwards of 450 touchpoints prior to booking. Sojern’s partnership with Tapad will help unify these touchpoints across devices, enabling travel brands to more effectively nurture and engage potential buyers during the purchase process, regardless of which device they use. “Sojern’s been focused on travel for over a decade, helping brands activate predictive purchase signals and leverage our traveler profiles into effective performance marketing campaigns,” said Mat Harris, Sojern’s VP of Product, Enterprise Solutions. “The cross-device insights we gain from the Tapad Device Graph provide a valuable tool for our customers to reach travelers across devices in real-time and at scale, on the right device.” Prior to selecting Tapad as its cross-device partner, Sojern surveyed several probabilistic and deterministic cross-device vendors and performed an extensive global test. The test was an examination of scale, match rate and several other factors, which enabled Sojern to learn as much as possible about each vendor. After examining the final test results, Sojern selected Tapad based on its excellent test performance, tried-and-true experience in the market and complimentary business model. To date, Sojern has already seen an amplification rate of more than 600 percent as a result of the integration, meaning that the Tapad Device Graph is connecting an average of six or more device and browser IDs for every one existing Sojern ID. “Not only is Sojern a compatible partner for our singular Device Graph capabilities, but they are also an incredible data partner to help expand our work in the travel industry,” said Pierre Martensson, SVP and GM of Tapad’s global data division. “Working with the team at Sojern allows us to solve a true challenge within the travel industry today: creating a unified view of customers so travel brands can better understand and access their key audiences at every point along their path to purchase.” Contact us today

    Published: Jun 15, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

    Tapad, now a part of Experian, partners with Resonate to enhance audience analytics for mobile app brands

    Leading data insights and cross-device-powered services bridge mobile insights with connectivity to drive real-time consumer intelligence NEW YORK, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Tapad, now a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, has partnered with Resonate, a leading provider of real-time consumer intelligence and activation SaaS solutions. Through this partnership, Resonate will leverage the Tapad Device Graph™ to capture a deeper understanding of its mobile app audiences and provide brands with a more direct connection to their intended consumers. The integration of Resonate and Tapad's technologies equips mobile app brands with insights into their consumers' values, beliefs, motivations and purchase drivers. As a result, mobile app brands will better understand how to tailor messaging, drive advertising engagement, increase lift in performance across mobile consumers and ultimately boost revenue and returns. Utilizing the advanced data that the Tapad Device Graph™ provides, Resonate will create an Identity Service that connects mobile IDs to Resonate IDs for reporting insights both in-platform and out. To date, Tapad and Resonate have already driven incremental device connections for nearly 60 percent of customer profiles with an amplification rate of more than 120 percent, resulting in more than 400 million net new IDs within Resonate's user base. "After testing multiple partners over the course of 12 months, it was clear that Tapad was the partner for us, given their ability to provide cross-device connectivity for more than one billion unique IDs against our consumer base," said Joel Pulliam, SVP and chief product officer at Resonate. "In addition, Resonate customers have an inherent trust in Tapad's mix of probabilistic and deterministic mobile connectivity data to provide a unified understanding of their mobile audiences." "Partnering with Resonate will not only provide its brands with a more in-depth and actionable understanding of its consumers, but it will also allow our clients to connect with mobile consumers on a deeper level," said Pierre Martensson, SVP and GM of Tapad's global data division. "Resonate is not just answering the question of 'how' consumers are making purchases, but also tackling the more difficult question of 'why' they make certain buying decisions to best inform mobile brands about their audiences." Contact us today

    Published: May 17, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

    Tapad, a part of Experian, and Innovid partner to enhance cross-device video personalization

    Partnership leverages industry-leading Tapad Device Graph™ for more effective video marketing across all connected devices NEW YORK, April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Tapad, a part of Experian, the leading provider of privacy-safe, cross-device marketing technology solutions, has announced its partnership with Innovid, the world's leading video marketing platform. This integration enables Innovid to bring cross-device personalization and a more unified viewer experience to its video marketing clients including Bank of America, L'Oréal, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble. Innovid's proprietary technology is the only platform optimized for video, enabling marketers to thrive in an ever-changing digital television landscape. Since its launch last year, Innovid's Marketing Cloud Suite has helped marketers increase message relevance and the opportunity to drive conversions, retention and acquisition through video personalization. By leveraging the Tapad Device GraphTM, Innovid's marketers can now benefit from the ability to drive consistent, personalized user experiences across all devices, creating more impactful connections with consumers and increasing ROI. "Personalization is a must for every data-driven marketer and really needs to happen across all devices to ensure a unified customer journey," says Ronnie Lavi, SVP of product at Innovid. "At Innovid, we recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to video. As an open platform, we are always looking to add best-of-breed capabilities through integrations and partnerships, and we've chosen Tapad because of its superior cross-device expertise." "Innovid has long paved the way for effective personalization in the video marketing space," says Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad's data division. "As video continues to gain popularity across digital formats, we're excited to see how our technology empowers Innovid to bring that renowned personalization to more customers across all of their devices." Contact us today

    Published: Apr 11, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Enter your name and email for the latest updates

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    About Experian Marketing Services

    At Experian Marketing Services, we use data and insights to help brands have more meaningful interactions with people. As leaders in the evolution of the advertising landscape, Experian Marketing Services can help you identify your customers and the right potential customers, uncover the most appropriate communication channels, develop messages that resonate, and measure the effectiveness of marketing activities and campaigns.

    Visit our website

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Stay up to date on the latest industry news and receive expert tips from our marketing experts.
    Subscribe now!