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In 2024, consumers in the United States spent an eye-watering $994.1 billion throughout the winter holiday season! It’s no wonder that advertisers focus on it so much, but history has shown there are many events and seasons that encourage customers to open their wallets.
In this week’s blog from Genius Monkey, we’re following up on our article last year ranking the top ten shopping days throughout the year. Let’s jump in and see what’s new, what’s old, and how advertisers can make the most of each season!
10) St. Patrick’s Day
Saint Patty’s day may have dropped a spot from last year, but the holiday dressed in green is still growing! Consumers spent about $7.2 billion in 2024, a 2.86% increase from the year before. Celebraters spent that money on food, apparel, decorations, and – of course – beer.
Guinness reported record sales in 2024, and estimates suggest around 13 million pints were consumed. A lot of those drinks happened at parties in bars, restaurants, and other public places – the perfect place to join the celebration through green-tinted CTV ads! A captive audience looking for a good time will be more inclined to laugh along or embrace the feels; give them what they want!
9) Halloween
Spooky season dropped two places from last year, with total spend falling 5% to $11.6 billion. Surveys suggest that the number of people who celebrate hasn’t changed since last year; consumers are just being a little more choosy over their Halloween purchases.
Costumes remain the largest category on the shopping list, just barely beating out candy at 33.1% and 31.9% respectively. For adults, the most popular costume in 2024 was a witch; for kids, it was Spider-Man. The most popular candies handed out were M&M’s, Reese’s Cups, Sour Patch Kids, and Skittles.
8) Prime Days
Rising from 10th place last year, Amazon continues to grow its own holiday in celebration of all things e-commerce. Prime Days boast the biggest spending increase since 2023; consumers spent $14.2 billion across July 16th and 17th, a 122% increase!
Like last year, electronics dominated the sales lists, particularly tablets, TVs, headphones, and bluetooth speakers. Small kitchen appliance sales increased a whopping 76%, while apparel sales grew the least. Nearly half (49.2%) of Prime Day purchases were made on mobile devices, a 18.6% increase from the year before.
The rapid increase shows that e-commerce is going strong. For tips on managing e-commerce in the coming age of AI, check out this article here!
7) 4th of July
America’s birthday is the last holiday to move places on this list, growing 58% to $15.5 billion. Over half (60%) of that is spent on food, but the 4th of July is noted as the day of the heaviest drinking in the United States. Consumers spent around $3.87 billion on alcohol, and a further $2 billion on fireworks. Across the nation, people travel and gather for big parties and parades.
Every great event needs music, so there’s no better time for patriotic audio ads. The flexibility of modern audio ads means you can reach your audience wherever they’re celebrating, be it on the road to visit family, or in the comfort of their own homes.
6) Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is consistently the most-watched sporting event in the US, and 2024 was no exception. The big game drew around 202 million unique viewers, who collectively spent $17.3 billion getting ready for the big day.
The vast majority of the spend goes to food and drinks, comprising around 79% of consumer spend. Around 12% or so goes to team merchandise like jerseys and decorations. The remaining 9-10% generally goes to larger items like furniture to prepare for parties, and especially televisions to watch the game on.
Super Bowl ads have become legendary; one survey suggested that 14% of viewers name the ads as their favorite part of the event. Sporting events remain at the top of the list for CTV advertisements, bringing with them a captive audience looking for a good time. For tips on building a killer CTV campaign, check out this article!
5) Father’s Day
Sorry fellas, mothers win out again this year. Spending on dads decreased slightly from 2023, coming in around $22.4 billion. Around 50% of Father’s Day shoppers plan on getting greeting cards, clothing, and some kind of special outing/experience; gift cards are also very high on the list of favorite gifts.
When looking for Father’s Day gift ideas, 70% of shoppers will turn to social media for suggestions, especially Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram: it’s a great time for sentimental or nostalgic social media ads!
4) Easter
Around the same number of people celebrated Easter in 2024 compared to the year before, but spending decreased by about 7% to $22.4 billion. Consumers bought about 180 million eggs for decorating, and spent $7.3 billion on special meals. Compared to other holidays and celebrations, people don’t travel for Easter nearly as much, so you can expect to find them at home.
The commercial side of the holiday is geared towards families and especially kids, generally ones who haven’t received their first phone yet. Some of these younger children will have social media accounts set up, but most get their digital entertainment from tablets and streaming services. The Easter season is a great time to create OTT content directed towards younger audiences, both for the kids watching and the parents looking for ideas.
3) Valentine’s Day
Not much has changed for the holiday of love since 2023 – people still spent about $25.8 billion on fun dinners, fancy gifts, and chocolate: 58 million pounds of chocolate. This year, however, we have some better statistics on the favorite gifts people love to give!
The most-purchased item is flowers, taking up about $2.6 billion of the spend, while around 32% of people surveyed plan on giving the gift of an “evening out”. Valentine’s is reportedly the most popular day to get engaged, which is part of the reason customers spend over $6 billion on jewelry! Men tend to spend much more on Valentines compared to women.
As people are looking for activities and gifts, they keep a sharp eye out for valentine-specific deals. Using the Genius Monkey platform, you can see which competitor’s offers your target has seen, and offer them a better deal through targeted banner ads related to the consumer’s preferences and search patterns.
2) Mother’s Day
Everyone loves mom, and people across the U.S. dropped a collective $33.5 billion to show their appreciation. This is a 6% decrease from the previous year, but the gift categories remain the same: flowers (74%), greeting cards (73%), and special outings (61%) are the most common. The most expensive category is Jewelry, on which shoppers spent $6.8 billion.
1) Back-to-School
In news that shocks no-one, back-to-school season takes the crown for the biggest shopping season outside the winter holidays. K-12 alone accounts for $39 billion, but college back-to-school sees parents and students spending $87 billion. That’s a combined $126 billion through late July and early August.
Even for those who aren’t going to school, the end of summer represents a kind of second New Year - a new beginning that warrants spending money on hobbies, fashion, and home furnishings. During this season, it’s time to go all-in: display/banner/native ads, social media videos, emails offering deals, and serious retargeting for every customer that has visited your site without buying.
Final Thoughts
Advertising goes through its periods of up and down, but there’s always opportunities to grow your brand. Genius Monkey has found that steady ad spend through the year is the best way to penetrate the market and keep your brand top-of-mind. Conversion numbers may fluctuate through the year, but steady effort on all parts of the sales journey will ensure long-term success by continually introducing and moving consumers through the funnel.
If you’re ready to start increasing conversions and efficiency, it’s time to partner up with a data-driven Meta-DSP that finds your audience in real-time. Get in touch with Genius Monkey today to see how world-class programmatic can elevate your marketing strategy!
