Unwrapping Holiday 2024: Intentional Shoppers, Early Sales, and Self-Gifting

The 2024 holiday season has revealed a major shift in shopper behavior. Unlike last year, when retail sales peaked around Thanksgiving and Black Friday, this year saw a significant pull forward of holiday spending. It wasn’t just about securing the biggest Cyber deals and gifting for loved ones — shoppers made their intentions clear earlier than ever. This trend highlights the growing need for brands to rethink their holiday strategies for 2025 to meet shoppers where they’re at.

Holiday Spend Pulled Forward in 2024

Shoppers started their holiday spending much earlier this year than the last. 60% of Cyber Weekend shoppers participated in early holiday deals before Thanksgiving, taking advantage of promotions like Prime Big Deal Days, Rakuten’s Big Cash Back Unwrap, Single’s Day Deals, Target Circle Week, and Walmart Holiday Deals.

On Rakuten, these moments dominated early holiday shopping, allowing participating merchants to secure pre-Cyber spend and contributing to year-over-year (YoY) sales growth ahead of Black Friday. Let’s look at this year’s performance:

Merchants that participated in Rakuten’s Single’s Day promotion experienced significant gains when compared a typical shopping day, including 104% lifts in sales, 76% lift in trips, 82% lift in orders, 27% lift in average order value (AOV), and 153% lift in first-time buyers.
Rakuten’s first-ever Big Cash Back Unwrap, held from November 12–21, featured a “Deal of the Day,” where participating merchants offered their highest-ever Cash Back rate for a single day. Merchants in both consumer electronics and apparel participating in the Cash Back Unwrap saw increased spending over Cyber Week, demonstrating that finding a way to standout early can drive continued benefits throughout the season.
Rakuten’s Early Black Friday promotion also saw strong year-over-year growth, including a 32% lift in sales, 20% lift intrips, 8% lift in average order value (AOV), and 9% lift in first-time buyers.

Post-election behaviors gave an additional boost to early holiday shopping, effectively marking the season’s kickoff. While consumers recognize Black Friday as the peak for deals, this year, the economic uncertainty of an election year and concerns over shipping delays during a condensed holiday season prompted shoppers to act earlier when presented with a good deal. In the week following the November US election, Rakuten saw a 57% increase in sales compared to the prior week, signaling a “buy now” attitude that brands can take advantage of during election years.

It’s important to note this early activity did not diminish the importance of Cyber 5 but underscored the value of engaging shoppers earlier in Q4. Brands that established an early presence captured wallet share while positioning themselves to achieve their Q4 goals.

Intent-Driven Shopping is Shaping the Season

Consumers are more intentional in their shopping habits this season. Rakuten’s in-house research team, whose focus is on understanding the Rakuten member to inform salient, rewarding experiences, polled shoppers that visited the website and app during Cyber 5. 35% of these shoppers cited they came to the platform specifically to make a purchase. This aligns with broader trends for Q4, where total store trips are slightly down, but sales are up year-over-year, with slightly higher average cart sizes across all categories. This season, consumers know what they want and are willing to spend but remain intent on getting the best value for their money.

Shoppers Have Adopted a “First for Me, Then for You” Mentality

Early in Q4, many shoppers prioritized personal needs before turning to holiday gifts. Rakuten saw notable growth in categories like pets, home and garden, and food delivery, reflecting a “self-first” trend. Consumers continued to shop for themselves over Cyber 5, with pets, food delivery, and banking and finance showing strong year-over-year growth in converted trips.

Numerator also reported that “only 67% of Cyber Weekend purchases were primarily gifts,” further highlighting this shift. It’s key for brands and retailers to understand this shift to better position their offers to capture both self-care and gift-buying moments.

The Impact of Inflation Lingers

Inflationary pressures have shaped consumer spending throughout 2024 and remains a driver this holiday season. Despite inflation at 2.6%, shoppers displayed key behaviors:

52% sought out promotions and sales.
42% reduced the number of gifts purchased.
35% switched retailers to find better deals (Numerator).

Rakuten members also demonstrated value-seeking behavior, researching and comparing deals. Our in-house research revealed 34% of members visited Rakuten to browse Black Friday deals, while 11% of members checked and compared Cash Back rates to ensure they were getting the best offers before making a purchase.

To temper consumer pushback against inflation, discounting remains a big priority for retailers this year, according to AdWeek and Adobe. However, the discounts weren’t as steep this year. Data from Salesforce revealed that discounts between November 30 and December 1 were smaller compared to last year.

Retailers are challenged with balancing the value-driven nature of today’s consumers with the need to protect their margins. This is where Cash Back becomes a powerful tool – offering an incentive to consumers without the need for steep discounts. Savvy merchants know how to strike this balance. This year, a record-breaking 900+ merchants stacked Cash Back on top of their onsite Cyber promotions by participating in Rakuten’s Cyber Events, with an average Cash Back rate of 13.5% for participating merchants.

Cyber 5 retains its prominence, despite the pull forward of holiday spend

As Black Friday arrived, shoppers began to tackle their holiday lists. Despite the extended shopping period, Cyber 5 still accounted for 15.5% of holiday ecommerce sales, per EMARKETER’s forecast.

This year, Adobe reported that makeup and skincare, Wicked toys, and bedding and linen were among the top five products this Black Friday. Rakuten mirrored these trends, with products in the following categories Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, and Toys & Games leading in converted trips.

The Gift of the Year: Gift Cards

Gift cards have emerged as a standout this season, with Cyber 5 sales surging 180% year-over-year on Rakuten. Shoppers are increasingly drawn to the flexibility and convenience these gifts offer. In fact, 26% of Cyber Weekend shoppers purchased gift cards according to Numerator. This trend is expected to grow further, as last-minute shoppers seek easy solutions closer to year-end.

Rakuten’s Cyber Week 2024 performance broadly aligned with industry trends, with a few nuances

This holiday season saw fewer buyers.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still the season’s biggest shopping moments.
AOV remained steady compared with last year.
Shoppers looked beyond big-box retailers for the best deals.
Mobile growth exceeded forecasts.

Rakuten delivered strong results that underscore the value we bring to both consumers and merchants. Here’s a deep dive on how Rakuten’s key metrics stack up against the industry during Cyber Week 2024:

Sources: Adobe, Business of Fashion, Digital Commerce 360, EMARKETER, Rakuten Internal Data

Key Takeaways for Finishing Strong & Preparing for 2025

Start Earlier: With consumers pulling their spending forward, brands need to establish their holiday presence well before Thanksgiving when creating their 2025 plans. Early surprise-and-delight moments captures shoppers ready to spend.
Focus on Value: Value-driven shoppers are still seeking deals. Offering competitive incentives can help differentiate your brand and drive sales. Cash Back remains a leading strategy for brands and retailers looking to give extra incentivization at a lower margin outlay.
Capitalize on Last-Minute Shoppers: Even with Cyber 5 behind us, the season isn’t over. The National Retail Federation reports consumers have plenty of items remaining to check off their lists with half (52%) of their shopping left to do at this point. Last-minute deals, In Store Cash Back, flexible gifting options like gift cards, and BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store) strategies remain critical in the weeks before year-end.

The 2024 holiday season demonstrates that early, value-driven strategies resonate with today’s intentional shoppers. By adapting to these shifts, brands can set themselves up for success throughout the holidays and into the new year.