Overview

U.S. online holiday sales reached $257.8 billion between November 1 and December 31, 2025, a 6.8 % rise over the previous year. The growth spread across a longer buying window, saw generative AI become a major discovery tool, and revealed that deeper discounts pushed shoppers toward higher‑priced items. Amazon sellers who adapt to these shifts can capture more traffic, improve margins, and avoid stock‑out risks.

Key Points

• Extended sales window — 25 days topped $4 billion in sales, compared with 18 such days in 2024, indicating demand is sustained throughout the two‑month season.
• AI‑driven traffic explosion — Visits generated by generative‑AI chat and browser assistants grew 693 % year‑over‑year, turning AI into a mainstream product‑research channel.
• Mobile dominance — Mobile devices accounted for 56.4 % of all holiday transactions, climbing from 54.5 % the year before, and peaked at 66.5 % on Christmas Day.
• BNPL surge — Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later purchases exceeded $20 billion, a 9.8 % increase, with 82 % of those orders placed on smartphones.
• Retail‑media expansion — Advertising revenue from retail media rose 40 %, now representing 4.6 % of total e‑commerce revenue.
• Premium‑product trade‑up — Units sold in the highest price tiers jumped 20 % versus non‑holiday periods, driven by aggressive markdowns on premium SKUs.

How the Extended Shopping Window Works

1. Broader daily spend distribution — Instead of concentrating sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers dispersed high‑value purchases across November and December, with the “Cyber Five” generating $44.2 billion (up 7.7 %).
2. Elevated mid‑season demand — Black Friday reached $14.25 billion (up 7.1 %) while Cyber Monday grew 9.1 % to $11.8 billion, showing consumers are comfortable waiting for online‑only promotions later in the season.
3. Inventory pressure over weeks — Running out of stock in early December can cost weeks of sales, not just a single weekend, because demand remains strong through the latter half of the holiday period.