Shoppers won’t let economic and political turbulence deter them from holiday shopping— but many will skip the old playbook.  Three-quarters (75%) of consumers say they’ll spend the same or more on gifts this year, with Gen Z (29%) and millennials (25%) leading the charge in spending more, according to Salsify's inaugural 2025 Consumer Holiday Shopping Report.  But from AI-curated gift guides and the digital takeover of Black Friday to the decline of social media’s shopping influence, consumers will rewrite the rules of the holiday season, noted the report.

The controversial Kids Online Safety Act, which was passed by the Senate earlier this week, reportedly will not move forward in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill aimed to address potential harms associated with social media use by teens, including depression, eating disorders, and online bullying. The measure would have required tech platforms to guard against those harms when implementing design features such as personalized recommendations, notifications and appearance-altering filters.

After a particularly harsh winter in many parts of the country, shoppers are ramping up their Easter spending. Consumer spending on Easter is expected to reach a record total of $24.9 billion this year, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The amount surpasses the previous record of $24 billion set in 2023. Candy is the leading shopping category for Easter, with 92% of consumers planning to purchase sweets. Other top categories include food (90%), gifts (64%), decorations (53%) and clothing (51%). Across these categories, food spending is expected to reach $7.5 billion, followed by gifts ($3.9 billion), clothing ($3.7 billion), candy ($3.5 billion) and flowers ($2.2 billion).