The Numerator’s 2025 Holiday Intentions Preview suggests festivities throughout the year are creating retail marketing and selling opportunities.
Christmas is celebrated by 90% of consumers surveyed, Thanksgiving by 88%, Mother’s Day by 74%, Easter by 68% and Independence Day by 67%. Other days celebrated by more than half the population are Father’s Day at 63% and Halloween at 60%.
Other holidays have large proportions of the population planning celebrations. For example, 46% of consumers celebrate Memorial Day and 40% celebrate Labor Day.
Although only 5% of consumers celebrate Hanukkah, according to the Numerator survey, the holiday still is important in many communities, and its falling in the range around Thanksgiving and Christmas make it a festive occasion that retailers and their suppliers should consider when putting together seasonal promotions.
According to the report, despite some concerns about personal finances because of the period of high inflation, consumers generally aren’t giving up their celebrations and might be even more interested in participating in the such celebratory occasions.
In planning terms, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo are most spontaneous celebrations with well more than half of consumers doing their planning within one week, and 29% and 37%, respectively, working out their festive intentions only one or two days in advance. Some 37% of consumers are most likely to plan Christmas celebrations three months or more in advance, and Hanukkah celebrations are planned three months or moe in advance by 23% of those who celebrate the holiday. The third most likely occasion to be planned three months or more in advance is Halloween, at 15%. At 48%, Halloween is planned out by more consumers one to two months in advance more than any other holiday, which indicates its importance to a significant number of consumers, with Christmas second at 45% and Thanksgiving third at 42%.
As they plan for 2025, 46% of consumers want to spend time at gatherings with family and friends, up slightly year over year, Numerator noted. This is led by Christmas, at 66%, Thanksgiving, at 65%, and Easter, at 61%, leading. For each occasion, 90% or more of celebrators said they would buy something. Eight in 10 consumers say they’ll spend more than $100 on Christmas, with Thanksgiving following at 51% of consumers, Hanukkah at 47%, and Independence Day and New Year’s Eve each at 38%. Grocery stores are the top destination for holiday shopping in most holidays. However, big-box stores beat them out for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween and Christmas, according to Numerator. The personal touch counts for holiday purchasing, as online retailers failed to take the number-one spot for any occasion cited in the Numerator survey.
