Holiday Hype
By Laia Fernandez-Areste | News | December 15, 2025
Cover Illustration: Person walking inside building near glass, December 11, 2016. Heidi Fin / Unsplash
With the holiday season underway, the familiar frenzy of festive spending has begun. Laia Fernandez-Areste reports on the trends of modern holiday shopping, examining the evolving behaviours of both retailers and shoppers in 2025.
Every year, it seems to happen earlier. Before Halloween candy even gets cleared from store shelves, we start to see red and green packaging, ornaments and limited-edition seasonal merchandise. What has always been a December tradition has now become a September business strategy. A closer look behind 2025’s Holiday hype shows a mix of economic pressure and psychological triggers that reveal why holiday merchandise keeps dominating spending year after year.
“Through early releases, limited editions and clever marketing, retailers have turned a holiday into a revenue machine.”
This year, many retailers began launching festive merchandise, limited-edition gifts, seasonal decorations and holiday marketing weeks ahead of December. According to recent reports, supply-chain pressures, economic uncertainty and cautious spending have pushed retailers to “de-risk” the holiday season by front-loading inventory and promotions.
Despite ongoing concerns around inflation and tighter budgets, consumer behavior has remained surprisingly strong. According to data from Adobe Analytics, online sales during the 2025 Cyber Week (Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday) rose sharply with a total of $44.2 billion spent online over this five-day period, up 7.7% compared to last year. Cyber Monday on its own set a new record of $14.25 billion in online purchases, confirming that even in uncertain economic times, holiday shopping remains a priority.
So why is it that the holiday season is a time of such high spending? It’s psychological. Seasonal products evoke a sense of comfort, nostalgia and ritual. Retailers are aware of this, and by releasing holiday lines early, they tap into the emotional readiness of shoppers way ahead of December. People slowly start to buy festive products to cheer them up, rather than in one big rush, often making them forget how much is actually being spent since it is done gradually.
One of this year’s most vivid examples of a holiday merch strategy is the “Bearista” holiday cup from Starbucks. As part of its seasonal merchandise collection, Starbucks released a limited-edition glass tumbler in the shape of a bear, retailing at $29.95.
“Limited availability turned a simple item into a must-have. Social media and resale culture turned it into a symbol of the holidays. It shows how intangible feelings like nostalgia and festive excitement get translated into tangible products.”
This release took over the internet. Massive lines, overnight camping, fights, accusations and online resales, all for a limited-edition bear-shaped cup. Some buyers reported paying as much as $300-$400 for a cup that originally cost under $30 at retail.
This kind of demand for what is just a branded cup shows a lot about how holiday merchandise works in 2025. Limited availability turned a simple item into a must-have. Social media and resale culture turned it into a symbol of the holidays. It shows how intangible feelings like nostalgia and festive excitement get translated into tangible products.
Although overall spending remains strong, consumer behavior shows that many shoppers are increasingly strategic about where their money goes. Many shoppers have begun to incorporate AI in their holiday shopping journeys to help find the best deals, summarize product reviews, and generate shopping lists. In Deloitte’s Annual Holiday Retail Survey, the use of AI for holiday shopping has gone up 18 percentage points, with 33% of shoppers planning to rely on GenAI tools this season.
With AI assisting in comparison shopping and deal-finding, discounted products are more attainable than ever. In fact, “7 in 10 shoppers across all income groups are engaging in value-seeking behaviors”, emphasizing a shift toward careful, calculated purchases.
Holiday merchandise is not just about festivity and decorations, but about tapping into emotions, timing and consumer psychology. Through early releases, limited editions and clever marketing, retailers have turned a holiday into a revenue machine.
For many, holiday merch is not about a need, but about mood, identity and belonging – and in today’s unsteady economy, that might be more valuable than ever.
Laia Fernandez-Areste is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
