Last week marked the end of the 2023 post-Thanksgiving promotional extravaganza, which quite frankly, inflation-strapped consumers needed more than ever. But what was once a claustrophobic trip to the mall is now a leisurely week (or month) of browsing deals online ahead of the holiday season.

A recent report from Bloomberg citing Attain data, said the elongated promotional season is giving squeezed consumers a chance to capitalize on deals across a variety of goods, and also be more discerning over where they spend their money. Attain’s data showed that transaction sizes at retail behemoths such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target were down in the early hours of Cyber Monday compared to last year. Meanwhile, transaction sizes were up for newcomers such as Temu, as well as established retailers like Best Buy. “These emerging platforms like Temu are attracting new consumers and have an opportunity to chip away at market share from established giants like Amazon,” Brian Mandelbaum, CEO of Attain, told Bloomberg.

This new era of holiday shopping seems to benefit both consumers and corporations, more so than the door-buster-driven frenzies of the past. Retailers and brands can work on turning over stock before the end of the year, while juicing their annual revenue numbers. “Our objective in extending holiday sales beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday is simple: To drive year-over-year sales growth during the entire holiday season, which we view as starting in mid-November through to the end of the year,” Ali Radel, VP of Marketing at Win Brands Group, told ModernRetail. For consumers, the longer promotional period provides the opportunity to spend consciously or splurge with abandon, without the anxiety of having mere hours to take advantage of deals. This amounts to a rare win-win for consumers and brands, which is something worth celebrating.  

According to Bloomberg, US shoppers still spent a record $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, “demonstrating the continued resilience of consumers despite dwindling pandemic-era savings and high interest rates.”