Holiday 2026: the changing shopping behaviors shaping the season

Holiday shopping doesn’t happen in a single moment or around a single mission. Customers are researching weeks before the biggest shopping days. They’re deciding where to save and where to splurge. And they’re shopping for gifts, meals and decorations alongside the everyday essentials that don’t stop when the season begins.

For marketers, that changes the holiday playbook.

The opportunity extends beyond peak shopping days and traditional gift lists. Walmart customer data and recent research point to several shifts shaping how customers shop the season — and where brands can find relevant ways to connect along the way.

The holiday cart is also the everyday cart

What does holiday shopping look like? It might be stocking stuffers and Christmas tree ornaments. But it can just as easily include eggs and paper towels in in the same basket.

Walmart search behavior reflects how closely holiday and everyday needs intersect. Customers may be finding gifts while restocking household essentials or planning a holiday dinner while shopping for the week.¹ For brands, that opens up an opportunity well beyond the traditional holiday aisle.

Walmart ranks #1 in omnichannel unit market share among key retailers across categories spanning food, non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, household essentials, beauty, personal care, fashion, health and wellness, home, toys, baby care and more.² That breadth gives brands more ways to stay relevant across gifting, decorating, gathering, hosting and keeping the household running.

Turning insight into practice: Don’t limit your holiday strategy to what looks like a holiday purchase. Use Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products to stay relevant as customers prepare, celebrate, host and gift. In store, Store ads can help brands stay visible during the everyday shopping moments that continue throughout the season.

Holiday customers are practicing selective indulgence

Value-conscious doesn’t always mean choosing the lowest price.

According to Deloitte’s Holiday Retail Survey, 65% of shoppers said they would switch brands if their preferred option felt too expensive.¹ At the same time, McKinsey found that 39% of holiday shoppers planned to actively splurge when purchases felt meaningful or emotionally rewarding.²

Together, those behaviors point to a mindset of selective indulgence: shoppers are making deliberate choices about where to save and where it’s worth spending more. For brands, the question isn’t simply whether shoppers are willing to spend. It’s what makes a product worth choosing. Price matters, but so does giving customers a compelling reason to make room for a brand in their holiday budget.

Turning insight into practice: Use contextual and keyword targeting to stay relevant as customers weigh different holiday needs, priorities and purchases throughout the season.

Holiday shopping starts earlier — and keeps going

Customers aren’t waiting for the biggest shopping days to start making decisions. Among surveyed Walmart customers, half begin researching more than four weeks before the holidays, with another 20% starting three to four weeks out. And nearly half (48%) make multiple shopping trips during the holidays.³

That means a purchase made late in the season may have started taking shape weeks earlier. For brands, the opportunity stretches from early inspiration and planning through repeat trips and last-minute needs.

Turning insight into practice: Build awareness with CTV early in the season, then pair it with complementary Walmart Connect tactics like Sponsored Search as customers move toward purchase. And use the longer season to learn and adjust: With Walmart Connect’s first-party signals and closed-loop measurement, brands can use in-flight performance insights to inform optimizations as the season unfolds.

Convenience is becoming part of the decision

Convenience isn’t only about speed anymore. Customers increasingly expect shopping to require less effort, and that expectation is influencing how they discover, decide and buy.

Seventy-two percent of AI users say the technology simplifies holiday shopping decisions by reducing choice overload.⁴ Among Walmart customers surveyed about their holiday shopping, more than half (56%) of online holiday transactions occurred on smartphones,⁵ while 35% say they’re willing to add more items to their cart to unlock faster shipping.⁶

Across these behaviors, the common thread is ease. For marketers, that means convenience isn’t just about fulfillment. It’s increasingly part of the customer experience and can influence the decisions customers make along the way.

Turning insight into practice: Reduce friction as customers move from discovery to purchase, making it easier to find and shop relevant products across the Walmart experience.

Show up where the holidays happen

Holiday shopping unfolds across weeks of researching, planning, shopping and returning for more. For brands, the opportunity is to stay relevant across the season, not just show up for its biggest days.

Walmart is where more of those moments come together. With Walmart Connect, brands can build awareness, reach customers as they search and shop and use first-party signals and closed-loop measurement to understand what’s working along the way.

Because winning the holidays isn’t about winning one day. It’s about being there for the moments that make the holidays happen.

Ready to turn holiday insights into action? Explore our solutions to connect with customers throughout the season.

Sources: ¹Walmart first party data, May 2026, Reflecting November 8 – December 27, 2025. ²2025 Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey. No endorsement of third-party data sources. ³Bazaarvoice, “What shoppers really want this holiday shopping season,” July 2026. No endorsement of third-party data sources. ⁴McKinsey Consumer Sentiment Report, March 2026. No endorsement of third-party data sources. ⁵Accenture, “Holiday Shopping 2025,” Oct. 2025. No endorsement of third-party data sources. ⁶Walmart Connect Holiday Lookback 2025, Walmart Customer Spark Community, provided by Walmart Luminate, March 2026; study conducted by Walmart Connect Media Insights.