r, S&P Global Ratings’ analyst Bea Chiem warned that this spike doesn’t stem from a healthy spending environment. In fact, quite the opposite.  “We believe price increases to offset tariffs will account for most of the sales growth, with minimal unit volume gains,” she said.  “We expect holiday retail spending by consumers will remain relatively flat, which illustrates the challenging operating conditions for retailers and supports our negative ratings bias in the sector.” Chiem’s warning was further backed by Deloitte’s recently released 2025 Holiday Retail Survey, which was conducted among 4,000 adult US consumers and revealed that shoppers planned to cut spending by 10 per cent this year. One consumer segment that will be hit especially hard this holiday season by the current economic climate is Gen Z, who are expecting to reduce their spending by a drastic 34 per cent. Compared to the US$1,282 Gen Zers spent during the 2024 holiday shopping season, this younger consumer group is expected to spend around US$850 this time around. However, this shouldn’t discourage retailers from trying to engage with this often hard-to-market-to consumer group. It just means they will need to be even smarter about tapping into Gen Zers’ shopping habits, like their interest in following influencer-curated shopping gift guides.   Seeking out sales Despite reports of Gen Z shoppers significantly cutting back on holiday spending this year, retailers shouldn’t discount the power of a well-marketed deal.  According to Deloitte’s survey, 89 per cent of consumers will be searching for deals, and 77 per cent expect to trade down to more affordable brands and retailers. Gen Z is at the top of the list for consumer groups hunting for deals, with 95 per cent of the survey respondents reporting value-seeking behaviour, such as using gen AI tools to help them find the most price-optimised products.  One interesting detail to note is that Gen Z shoppers tend to favour Black Friday, whereas other shopping groups, like millennials, prefer to shop on Cyber Monday. Sixty-seven per cent of Gen Z shoppers reported that they plan to shop on Black Friday, compared to 59 per cent of millennials, 51 per cent of Gen Xers and 36 per cent of baby boomers.  Only 48 per cent of Gen Z shoppers reported that they plan to shop on Cyber Monday, compared to 57 per cent of millennials, 50 per cent of Gen Xers and 37 per cent of baby boomers. This means that retailers should focus on presenting the best deals to Gen Z shoppers on Black Friday, before bringing down promotions over the course of the holiday weekend.  Relying on recommendations Another intriguing Gen Z shopping habit highlighted by Deloitte’s study was the younger shoppers’ interest in having a hand, whether digital or human, in helping them curate their shopping lists. Many Gen Z shoppers surveyed reported that they were turning to social media (74 per cent) and AI (43 per cent) for inspiration and product discovery.  One company that has strategically tapped into this desire for curated shopping lists is the millennial and Gen Z-favourite discovery platform, Pinterest.  After the company saw an increase in searches for queries like “budget-friendly gifts for boyfriend” (up 2,600 per cent YoY), “traveller’s journals” (up 610 per cent YoY) and “gift hamper for teacher” (up 830 per cent YoY). Pinterest used the data to curate gift guides, such as “the indecisive boyfriend,” “the frequent flyer” and “teacher gifts that aren’t mugs” to help indecisive shoppers. Additionally, this season, Pinterest has been rolling out exclusive promotions and a mobile app gifting quiz to help users find the right gifts.  In addition to turning to social media platforms, such as Pinterest or TikTok, as a source for product discovery, many Gen Z consumers stated that they would also turn to trusted influencers and tastemakers for gift recommendations.  This year, Pinterest has partnered with multiple celebrities who have curated personally inspired holiday boards to help their fans. These include Pamela Anderson’s “Holiday on the farm”, musical group The Jonas Brothers’ “Dad gifts he’ll actually use” and singer Zara Larsson’s “Gifts for the online girlie” lists.  Another retailer that has tapped into Gen Z consumers’ interests for shopping list assistance from trusted tastemakers is the American department store chain Marshalls. The retailer recently announced a partnership with actors/comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, who are also the hosts of the podcast “Las Culturistas”, to launch a curated holiday gift guide dubbed “It’s Giving Gifts”.  Unlike other sponsored lists which have more vague category descriptors, such as “gifts for mom”, this one comes with very selective curations – from “Best gifts for the cool girl who is always late and makes you think punctuality is kind of embarrassing” to “Best gift for your situationship who got you a gift so now you have to get them one even though you didn’t know you were doing that”. Instead of paying random influencers to talk about a product robotically, retailers should invest in engaging and culturally relevant gift curations to connect with and help out overwhelmed shoppers.  Augmenting authenticity is key On November 1, 2019, the “All I Want for Christmas is You” singer posted a video at midnight, announcing the unofficial start of the Christmas season, which, after its quick release, became a cultural phenomenon in its own right.  Every holiday season since, Carey has been making more extravagant “It’s time” videos, with this year’s video being one of her most viral and most controversial. In partnership with beauty retail giant Sephora, Carey released a video in which she reprimanded a disgruntled elf, played by comedian Billy Eichner, for stealing her Sephora goodies.  After the elf informed Carey that he was pawning the beauty goods to afford therapy from being overworked every holiday season, Carey declared, “You can’t cancel Christmas”, and turned Eichner’s character into an animated snowman.  The video went viral on the internet, garnering over 6.6 million views on YouTube and more than 100 million plays on TikTok within a week of its release. However, it also generated a lot of negative feedback from viewers, who complained that the video was tone-deaf, considering how many shoppers felt exhausted and overwhelmed during this harsh economic period.  For as social-media-driven as Gen Z shoppers are, they are a generation notoriously disinterested in being talked down to. While creating and promoting holiday-themed content, retailers should keep in mind that these young shoppers are looking for authentic communication that showcases a brand’s ethics, as well as its promotions. Further reading: The death of the traditional Black Friday: how retailers can adapt