Bazaarvoice Holiday Shopping 2025 Report: 47% of Today’s Smart, Selective Holiday Shoppers Are Buying Early to Avoid Price Increases

AUSTIN, Texas, July 16, 2025 – Bazaarvoice, Inc., the leading platform for authentic ratings and reviews and social commerce solutions, today released its latest holiday shopping study based on a survey of more than 8,000 global shoppers. The results revealed that in a challenging economy shoppers are scrutinizing value, options, and convenience. They are starting to holiday shop earlier, seeking out sales and free shipping, and opting for budget-friendly brands. 

“Holiday shopping is here,” said Doug Straton, CMO at Bazaarvoice. “Shoppers are shopping earlier, prioritizing value, and turning to the trusted voices of their peers to guide their decisions – via reviews, social posts and other types of user-generated content. As the lines between content, commerce, and community continue to blur, it’s clear that authenticity, convenience, and trust remain key for holiday retail success.”

Global survey highlights include:

• Holiday shoppers are getting smarter and more strategic: 38% of all shoppers start holiday shopping before October, just 9% start in December. Almost half (47%) say they’re buying early to avoid price increases, while the other half (51%) say they wait for major sales like Black Friday. When it comes to shipping, price trumps speed as 48% said they would buy another product to qualify for free shipping, while only 21% said they would do the same to qualify for faster shipping. Lastly, affordable options rule, with nearly 45% actively seeking value, budget-friendly brands/low-cost alternatives.
• Social media is no longer just a search engine, it’s a checkout: Compared to 2024, holiday purchases on social media jumped nine points, while the number of shoppers discovering gifts on social media dropped 16 points. Social platforms are successfully converting their discovery advantage into a direct sales channel.
• Omnichannel experiences are a shopper’s expectation: Shoppers no longer think in channels, they expect seamless journeys. While 74% are planning to buy holiday gifts online, 53% will still do in-store shopping in some capacity in 2025. Over half (56%) of those 18-34 favor online shopping, while 49% of those 35-54 value in-store experiences. 
• Content creators are shoppers’ holiday shopping north star: Trust in creator recommendations for the holidays increased by 30% compared to last year. Shoppers are becoming less focused on the product and more focused on who’s recommending it. Those 18-34 are most open to influencer recommendations, with 55% preferring micro influencers or their friends/family over mega influencers.
• Authenticity is still very valued: Shoppers who are checking reviews for authenticity while holiday shopping is up from 40% last year to 50% this year. On the flip side, acceptance of AI-generated social content declined from 33% to 20% year-over-year. 

To see more about the report, visit Bazaarvoice’s Holiday Headquarters. 

Research methodology

The research was commissioned by Bazaarvoice and conducted in March 2025 by Savanta among over 8,000 consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and Canada. 

About Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice is reshaping how brands and retailers connect with consumers by putting the consumer voice first, which includes ratings and reviews. With an end-to-end, commerce-empowered omni-channel content solutions and analytics platform, Bazaarvoice helps 14,000+ brands and retailers inform consumer decisions consistently and at scale at every stage of the shopper journey, on every platform where shoppers live. 2.5B shoppers use the Bazaarvoice Network on a monthly basis.

Founded in 2005, Bazaarvoice is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in North America, Europe, Australia, and India. For more information, visit www.bazaarvoice.com