Holiday spending in the USA rose in 2025, according to Visa, across all payment types and in a variety of different categories. The research highlights what people are spending on, how much shopping took place online vs in-store, and also compares the spending rise in the USA to other countries around the world.
This data is useful for merchants, as it shows what American shoppers are buying during the holidays, where they’re buying it, and gives a snapshot of what 2026 could hold in the world of retail.
US Holiday Spending Rises According to Visa Analysis
According to recently released Visa research, holiday spending in the USA rose by 4.2% in 2025. These increases persist across different payment types, including cash and check, and the research notes that this holiday shopping season marked a turning point in the industry, thanks to AI.
AI shaped how people find and discover products, how they perform research, how they learn about offers, and even how they compare prices and features between the options that they’re considering.
Ecommerce Spending Continues to Increase
The research also gave important insights into where people are shopping during the holidays. In-person shopping still led the way with 73% of holiday shopping payment volume, with online shopping making up the other 27%.
But while in-store shopping is still strong and makes up a larger portion of the overall market, ecommerce is growing rapidly. In fact, online retail spending during the holidays rose by 7.8%, largely driven by factors like convenience and special promotions or deals.
This shows that many more people are shopping online than in the past, and this could continue in 2026 and beyond. As a result, retailers (both physical and online) need to be prepared for this shift and ensure they dial in their ecommerce strategies to take advantage of this rapidly growing subset of retail customers.
Growing and Shrinking Categories
The analysis also broke down spending by category and highlighted a few important categories that grew and shrank this holiday season:
- Sales in electronics increased by 5.8% thanks to the demand for new and advanced tech during the current AI boom.
- Spending on clothing and accessories jumped by 5.3%.
- General merchandise stores saw a 3.7% increase.
- Furniture and home decor spending largely maintained demand during the holidays, growing by only 0.8%.
- Home improvement and building material sales shrank by 1%, showing that some people are putting the brakes on renovations and remodels.
While these categories could either continue to grow or shrink, or change course entirely in 2026, these numbers give merchants important insights into what people are buying more of, and what they may be turning away from, at least during the holiday season.
Increased Spending Expands to Other Markets
In addition to spending increasing in the USA this last holiday season, the same goes for many other countries across the globe. For example, the following nations saw seasonal spending rise:
- South Africa (7.9% rise)
- Australia (5% rise)
- Canada (4.4% rise)
- U.K. (3.6% rise)
In general, this research shows that despite difficult economic conditions throughout the USA during much of 2025, people are still comfortable spending around the holidays, especially on items like electronics, clothing, and accessories.
The growing shift towards ecommerce spending also means it’s more important than ever for businesses to optimize their online stores and perfect their marketing approach to reach as many online shoppers as possible.
Also, as the number of people shopping online grows, you can be sure that more and more companies will begin fighting for a piece of that growing pie, so you need to ensure you’re ready for increased competition.
