The peak of the critical holiday shopping season has gradually expanded over the years, creating a longer period of sales opportunities but also complicating matters for brands and retailers that count on a big Q4 to carry their numbers.
Holiday promotions, specials, deals and events now begin weeks before Black Friday and carry on for weeks after, creating an extended window where the pressure is on to constantly compete and feature your brands and products in the best possible light.
When shaping your holiday strategy for 2025 and beyond, one of the best places to look is the recent past. If you understand how consumers thought and behaved last holiday shopping peak, those insights can inform how you should approach the coming season.
We surveyed 1,510 consumers who shopped during the weeklong period leading up to and through Cyber Monday of 2024 to unwrap what they thought about the product experiences they encountered through a record-breaking peak season. Check out some highlights of the findings below and get the complete results in Unwrapped 2024: Product Content Performance In Peak Holiday Periods.
Content availability holds steady—with room to improve
78% of peak holiday shoppers strongly or somewhat agreed that they were able to find the information they wanted about products they were considering this year. This figure is roughly flat with what Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers shared with us in the previous year, indicating that brands and retailers maintained a relatively high level of base content availability even as the holiday shopping peak expands and becomes more competitive.
Tips and takeaways
Though this number was steady YoY, more than 1 in 5 shoppers indicated they weren’t able to readily source the content they sought to feel confident about a purchase decision, showing plenty of room for improvement. During a hectic shopping period where purchase decisions are often made spontaneously and on-the-spot, a lack of information means lost sales. A content service provider with a strong syndication network that appropriately tailors content to each retailer can ensure your products are depicted appropriately everywhere they are sold.
Love at first sight
Basic images of products and packaging are looked for much more often during the peak holiday season than the rest of the year.
In The State of Product Content 2025, 35% of consumers told us ‘basic images of product and packaging’ were likely to influence a purchase decision online. During the most recent peak holiday season, that figure spiked to 49%.
For comparison, 2024 shoppers reported slightly less interest in basic product data like weight, measurements, and ingredients during the holidays (45%) than the rest of the year (52%).
Tips and takeaways
During a fast-paced phase of digital commerce packed with time-sensitive deals, holiday shoppers may be more inclined to shop visually. For brands and retailers that count on a big peak holiday, that makes it particularly important to have the most-up-to-date product images available with multiple angles and perspectives for easy review across devices.
Ratings and reviews rule the gift market
Ratings and reviews of products were among the top product information sought by gift shoppers, with 45% of surveyed respondents saying it was one of the first things they looked for. 60% of peak holiday shoppers overall said ratings and reviews influenced purchase decisions very much or a little.
Tips and takeaways
Positive ratings and reviews can make all the difference in driving a purchase on both digital and physical shelves. Scoring scales and review systems vary significantly from site to site, and it’s important to monitor performance across all of them and respond quickly to shopper questions and concerns. Rating and Reviews reporting makes it possible to keep an eye on all your items, act on concerning trends, and improve scores over time.
Get even more holiday insights
This is just the tip of the snowman when it comes to powerful insights on holiday shopper behavior. Download Unwrapped 2024: Product Content Performance in Peak Holiday Periods to get the complete results.
