As the holiday shopping season nears, new consumer behavior trends are emerging.  Although 2024 was a record-breaking holiday season, consumers are approaching this year’s spending with more caution, taking advantage of tactics such as early spending and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). 

The Equifax Market Pulse Index–a metric that measures consumer financial data points such as credit, debt and assets–is 61.4 in 2025, suggesting that American consumers face certain financial challenges.  For example, the United States is seeing wealth and income volatility, student loan impacts, high savings rates and an increase in delinquencies.

These challenges appear to affect younger Americans the most, with Gen Z feeling the brunt of the impact.  For Gen Z, holiday spending in 2025 is down by 23% from 2024, whereas the other generations are spending roughly the same as the past year. 

To navigate a tricky financial landscape, consumers are turning to new strategies.  Early shopping is an important trend in 2025, with 80% of all planned holiday gift spending expected to occur by the end of Cyber Monday.  BNPL is also popular, with 43% of consumers reporting that BNPL influences where they shop. 

Each holiday season brings new patterns in spending behavior, and it is useful to be aware of these developments, whether you are a consumer, retailer or lender. 

Source: Equifax