Nearly 28% of Holiday Budgets Expected to Be Spent by the End of October
Consumers are starting holiday shopping and spending earlier, with October promotion participation rising and peak-season inventory and advertising windows moving forward for sellers.
What are the key facts?
- 122% of consumers plan to start holiday shopping earlier than last year
- 228% of consumers are expected to use their holiday budgets by the end of October
- 3Highest level in six years
- 442% of respondents plan to participate in October promotions
- 5October promotion participation is up 18% from three years ago
What happened?
Modern Retail cited a Deloitte holiday shopping survey on October 19, reporting that consumers are starting their holiday shopping earlier. The survey found that 22% of consumers plan to start holiday shopping earlier than last year, while 28% are expected to use their holiday budgets by the end of October, the highest level in six years. Meanwhile, 42% of respondents plan to participate in October promotions, up 18% from three years ago.
This consumer trend is not tied to the rules of a single platform, but it will affect inventory and advertising planning for sellers on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop and independent sites. In an inflationary and price-sensitive environment, consumers are more likely to compare prices early, wait for discounts, switch brands and spread out their purchases.
Sellers of apparel, toys, home goods, electronic accessories, beauty products and gifts may see a substantial share of demand consumed in October and early November. If cross-border sellers continue to concentrate most inventory, coupons and advertising budgets around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they may miss early orders and could face stockouts because overseas warehouse replenishment is slow. The original article recommends reallocating inventory, on-site advertising and discount budgets to late October and early November, while avoiding excessively deep discounts too early that could depress margins throughout the peak season.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
Consumers are moving holiday shopping and budget spending forward, so sellers on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop and independent sites should move up inventory, advertising and promotion plans. Keeping resources concentrated on Black Friday and Cyber Monday could mean missing October and early-November orders while increasing overseas-warehouse replenishment and stockout risks.
What should sellers do now?
- 1This week, split inventory by store and by apparel, toys, home goods, electronic accessories, beauty and gifts; prioritize replenishing sellable quantities for late October and early November and create a procurement backup list. Complete an inventory, in-transit and replenishment-status table for each SKU category.Procurement List
- 2This week, review advertising across Amazon, Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop and independent sites; schedule October promotion ads in advance while reserving budget for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Produce an advertising schedule by platform.My AI Agents
- 3This week, calculate post-discount profit and break-even points for priority SKUs participating in October promotions to avoid excessively early deep discounts. Complete a pricing table by store, category and SKU showing selling price, cost, gross margin and break-even point.Breakeven calculator