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)
| October | November | December | |
| 2022 | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| 2021 | 30% | 32% | 38% |
| 2020 | 31% | 32% | 37% |
| 2019 | 30% | 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)
| October | November | December | |
| Online | 29% | 34% | 38% |
| In-store | 32% | 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.
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
| October | November | December | |
| 2020 vs. 2019 | 14% | 12% | 10% |
| 2021 vs. 2020 | 6% | 8% | 5% |
| 2022 vs. 2021 | 7% | 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
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.
Connect with us
FAQs
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.
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
Early successes include revenue increases, global partnerships and fundraising NEW YORK, March 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Tapad's entrepreneurial mentorship initiative, the Propeller Program, has seen extremely positive results since it began in September 2016. The five early-stage startups selected from Norway have gained momentum in establishing a U.S. presence. Tapad, now a part of Experian, is the leader in unified cross-device marketing technology. The company was acquired by the Telenor Group in 2016. Among the successes within Propeller: Xeneta, the leading ocean freight price comparison platform and contracted rate database, has raised an additional $12M in funding since beginning the Propeller Program. Before the end of 2016, the company had exceeded its revenue expectations by nearly 30 percent, proving the European-focused business could succeed in the American market. "Aside from directly impacting our revenue, the Propeller Program has provided us with incredible access to a countless number of external resources, including subject matter experts from the fields of fundraising, public speaking, corporate structuring and immigration law," said William Di Ieso, GM of North America for Xeneta. "We remain extremely grateful for the opportunity and exposure the program has provided for Xeneta." Bubbly, an in-store real-time engagement tool for non-buyers, now has clients on four continents. After only a few months in the U.S. market, Bubbly has signed deals with one major retail brand, one major toy manufacturer and a major global consulting firm. The Propeller Program has also opened doors for greater opportunities in Scandinavia and EMEA. After an introduction to Telenor Group's President and CEO Sigve Brekke, Bubbly is currently piloting its IoT kiosk with the company. "The mentoring sessions have been very valuable and have given us guidance as to how to best enter the U.S. market," said Marianne Haugland Hindsgaul, Bubbly CEO and co-founder. "Learning to do business in the U.S. is not something you can necessarily learn from a book. The most impactful lessons are based on real-world experience, and that is what the Propeller Program has given us." BylineMe, a marketplace for freelancers, publishers and brands to connect for content creation and distribution services, has built an extensive network of potential clients and investors. The company has tested its product in the U.S. market and gained valuable feedback for further development. Eventum, a property-sharing group that digitally assists in securing venues for meetings and corporate events, has closed a seed round of funding for nearly $1M. Eventum has also made key hires in the areas of business development and engineering "It is so rewarding to be able to support these Norwegian startups in a meaningful way," said Are Traasdahl, CEO and founder at Tapad. "Mentor relationships are critical for strategic growth, and I am proud to be able to pay forward the experiences I have gained as an entrepreneur. To me, the Propeller Program is a shining example of the magic that can happen when Norwegian innovation meets American opportunity." Contact us today
Tapad’s TV analytics solutions now include premium national cable inventory– Travelocity asserts industry need, praises partnership — NEW YORK, February 28, 2017 — Tapad, a part of Experian, has announced its partnership with clypd, the leading audience-based sales platform for television advertising. By integrating clypd’s national cable network inventory, the partnership will expand Tapad’s extensive supply of TV inventory to include premium national cable inventory. Tapad is the leading provider of privacy-safe, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and was first-to-market with a device graph. Clypd’s robust sell-side advertising platform was one of the first built exclusively for the television industry, empowering media owners with solutions that deliver workflow automation, data-enhanced decisioning and, overall, maximize TV campaign performance. Through this partnership, Tapad’s Device Graph-powered TV tools will work in tandem with clypd’s sales platform to enable more precise audience engagement for TV ad buys. This will enable marketers to integrate their customer data or third-party digital segments into Tapad’s TV platform and use them to precisely engage their audience across clypd’s industry-leading footprint of national TV inventory. Campaigns are then optimized using Tapad’s graph-powered TV attribution, ensuring ads are aligned with the best context for each brand’s message. “Clypd is a pioneer in building TV marketplaces,” says Marshall Wong, SVP of TV market development at Tapad. “They were quick to recognize the benefits a device graph could bring to TV so that advertisers can activate linear inventory curated for any digital audience.” “Tapad’s TV activation platform increases the efficiency in which marketers can reach their intended audience on traditional linear TV,” says Doug Hurd, co-founder and EVP of business development at clypd. “Their customized, data-driven campaigns launch with precision and really increase the value marketers can extract from linear TV inventory.” "At Travelocity, we are always looking for ways to more efficiently reach our target audiences,” says Ashley Parker, head of brand marketing at Travelocity. “The combination of traditional linear TV and solutions like this offering from Tapad and clypd are bringing both the tools and the supply to make this vision a reality." Contact us today
Dextro clients to achieve increased accuracy in cross-device consumer measurement and engagement NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Dextro Analytics, a pure play analytics company that harnesses the power of human learning and artificial reasoning to drive more informed and effective consumer marketing, is partnering with Tapad, the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and now a part of Experian. The deal is effective immediately and the scope of the partnership covers North America. Additional terms were not disclosed. Leveraging Tapad's privacy-safe Device Graph™, Dextro Analytics will be able to significantly bolster its insight engine to decode complex customer journeys. Armed with more relevant, actionable insights, marketers can use Dextro's cross-screen, closed-loop measurement systems to reach and engage the right customer at the right time through the right channel. "Being able to accurately map consumer preferences, behaviors and journeys in a privacy-safe and unified way across devices is still one of the biggest pain points for marketers," said Ajith Govind, co-founder of Dextro Analytics. "At the same time, this partnership engages customers with the right message at the right time." "Detecting latent patterns and signals, and tracing backward- and forward-looking behavioral characteristics, are keys to sustaining a competitive advantage in a crowded space," said Manmit Shrimali, co-founder of Dextro Analytics. "With the proliferation of data and devices, connecting the dots is of paramount importance." "Dextro is solving some of the biggest challenges in analytics today," said Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad's data division. "Our partners consistently see notable improvements in both budget allocation and device optimizations after integrating with the Tapad Device Graph, and I have every confidence that Dextro will be among them." For more information about Dextro Analytics' revolutionary approach to using human learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to solve business and analytical problems, please visit http://dextroanalytics.com/. For more information about Tapad's cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today