Half of consumers want shopping season promotions before end of October

2025 shopping season survey unveils consumer engagement expectations

Global cloud communications platform Infobip’s 2025 shopping season survey[1] has revealed the festive period really does start earlier each year. Nearly half of consumers (47 percent) now expect to receive promotions by the end of October with a further 31 percent preferring early November. The findings highlight a clear shift in consumer behaviour, with shoppers eager to plan ahead and brands needing to respond earlier to capture attention.

The study also shows that personalisation and AI are driving the shopping experience:

• 76 percent of consumers say personalised offers are important in their decision making
• 66 percent trust AI to handle simple shopping tasks like order tracking or product recommendations.

Ben Lewis, VP of Marketing and Growth at Infobip, comments: “A key learning from this year’s shopping season survey is that consumers globally are getting an early start on their holiday preparations – actively browsing, comparing options, and curating their wish lists well before November. The survey also highlights that shoppers increasingly want to control their brand interactions, choosing when and how they want to be contacted, and which channels they prefer.

For retailers, success during the crucial holiday shopping season hinges on deeply understanding consumer preferences, engaging customers at the right time, through their preferred channels, and delivering personalised, meaningful content.”

The winning formula for businesses looking to engage customers this shopping season is a combination of timing, channel and relevance. Key insights include:

1. Early is the new on time – Globally, 47 percent of shoppers expect promotions to drop by late October or earlier, and 31% want them in early November.
2. Personalisation is a must – 76 percent of shoppers value personalised offers, with irrelevant or over-targeted campaigns being seen as intrusive by 8 percent.
3. Speed matters – Effective engagement must extend beyond purchase. 90 percent say order confirmations within minutes are essential during the holidays.
4. AI is gaining trust – 66 percent of shoppers trust AI for simple tasks like order tracking or product recommendations. 16 percent trust AI suggestions as much as human ones.
5. Omnichannel engagement is mandatory – Email remains a leading channel for holiday promotions, but WhatsApp, SMS, RCS and app notifications are catching up fast.

Read the full report here: https://www.infobip.com/blog/shopping-season-survey

[1] Research was conducted on 1,600 respondents from eight key markets: the US, the UK, France, Spain, Brazil, India, Australia, and the Philippines.

Image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo credit: Sophie Popplewell.