Online spending expands as seasonal momentum builds
Holiday e-commerce continues to push ahead, but the picture is more layered than headline numbers suggest. Amex reported a 9 percent rise in overall U.S. retail spending on its network during Thanksgiving week, reflecting the strong performance of its higher-income customer base.
Broader market tracking from Adobe Analytics shows online spending rising 7.7 percent during Cyber Week. The combined signal shows online channels maintaining momentum, supported by shoppers who gravitate toward speed, selection, and convenience.
How shoppers are adjusting their spending
Consumers are dealing with tighter budgets, and the change toward digital-first shopping reflects this environment. People compare more, plan earlier, and commit to purchases where the path feels simplest.
High-income shoppers continue to spend, while mid-tier households are more deliberate, often choosing online platforms to find the best value. Retailers built on foot traffic face a widening disconnect between in-store expectations and the way many households now prefer to buy.
The market trends shaping the seasonal spike
The current wave of online activity reflects a deeper transformation in retail behavior. Retailers with flexible digital operations adjust pricing and assortments faster than those tied to slower physical systems. Tariffs, shipping volatility, and inventory compression amplify this gap, and digital channels respond with faster repricing and more adaptive merchandising.
How leading brands are executing in real time
Retailers with strong digital infrastructure are refining product mixes, evaluating demand hourly, and personalizing recommendations based on live behavior. Some apparel brands are shifting inventory allocations mid-week depending on item-level movement.
Electronics sellers are adjusting bundle pricing to match competitive undercuts in real time. These moves reflect a model built around immediate feedback instead of quarterly resets. Teams working with fast, granular consumer signals are setting the pace for the season.
How Rwazi helps brand stay ahead
This is the moment when real-time consumer-source data matters most. Retailers adjusting to demand volatility depend on visibility into what people buy, why they choose certain platforms, and how price sensitivity differs across segments.
Rwazi provides on-ground, zero-party insights from consumers and field contributors, giving companies a sharper view of fast-moving demand patterns across markets. These intelligence loops help brands position products ahead of shifts instead of reacting after competitors move.
Holiday e-commerce growth is steady rather than explosive, but the underlying behavior remains consistent. Affluent shoppers drive the strongest gains, while a broader base of consumers stays selective. Retailers that integrate real-time behavior into pricing, targeting, and product decisions gain a structural advantage as the season unfolds.
Explore Rwazi’s latest consumer insights to see how these patterns are emerging across markets and categories, and tap into on-ground intelligence designed for teams that move with the market.