New survey results show that retailers are not the only ones preparing for the 2026 holiday season. Online shoppers are thinking ahead — and their answers about how and when they expect to shop have implications for merchants.
Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights surveyed 1,018 online shoppers in July, asking them about how much they anticipate spending, along with when they will begin and whether they expect to use artificial intelligence (AI) along the way. Their responses showed that not only will they be price conscious — online retailers can expect to see young, tech-savvy shoppers playing an important role in driving sales.
The full survey results will be published in the upcoming report, “Ecommerce Trends Shaping the 2026 Holiday Season.” What follows is a preview of what shoppers had to say, with some key takeaways that retailers should consider.
Which shoppers surveyed are most optimistic about holiday shopping in 2026
Asked how they expect their spending in November and December 2026 to compare with activity a year earlier, responses across age groups varied significantly. The youngest cohort, shoppers ages 18-29, proved most likely to think they would spend more in 2026 than they did a year earlier.
In fact, 46.3% of that youngest group indicated that they anticipated their spending would be “much higher” or “somewhat higher” than it was in November and December 2025. Those response rates dropped among each older group of shoppers, with no other group achieving at least a 40% rate of expectation that their spending would go up.
If these answers hold, it could mean that middle-aged and older shoppers give way to 20-somethings powering spending growth when the holidays arrive. That may have implications for which platforms and channels online merchants prioritize with ads and promotions. Even so, there is good news for retailers in that most shoppers said they plan to at least spend at levels comparable to a year ago.
Still, deals will be important, even as promotional events such as Amazon Prime Day and Walmart Deals have spread across the calendar year, providing other opportunities for savings. Ultimately, 81.8% of survey takers called price and discounts a factor that would influence holiday purchasing.
Which shoppers are most likely to use AI for holiday shopping
Major retailers and AI platforms introduced new options for shoppers in 2025. In 2026, they will look to leverage lessons learned. Meanwhile, shoppers will have another year of experience using AI to compare product reviews and seek out recommendations. Most shoppers surveyed indicated that they were at least interested in using AI for holiday shopping in the months ahead, with 40% already using it to some degree within the past six months.
Young shoppers were more likely to have used AI than their older peers. But replies from across age groups showed that AI is not just a novelty in 2026. Only a minority, 35.8%, replied that they had no interest in AI for shopping.
Crucially, there remained an 18.7% share of respondents who had not used AI for shopping within the past six months, but who were also interested or curious to try. That contingent of shoppers represents an opportunity for retailers to impress and serve those potential customers with effective tools or other AI-related features.
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