#holiday-shopping

#holiday-shopping

Shopping for holiday gifts for family, friends, and other loved ones can be challenging. You not only need to find the right presents, but you also want to take advantage of any bargains or sales and ensure the items arrive in time. With so many people using Amazon for their shopping sprees, the retail site offers an assistant called Rufus. This AI-powered tool can locate and research products, uncover the best deals, and provide answers to your questions about a specific item.

The first real sign of holiday momentum begins after Thanksgiving; Americans have spent more than $220 billion on Small Business Saturday alone since 2010. Retailers are already seeing the lift that defines the busiest shopping period of the year. This is the point in the season when founders can decide whether a strong winter quarter becomes a temporary spike or the start of a sustainable growth plan.

Holiday shoppers, it's time to finish knocking out that seasonal wish list. At this point, your online purchases may not arrive in time unless you're willing to pay extra for priority shipping - or you happen to get lucky. Still, gifting anything at all is awfully nice of you, regardless of when it arrives. If you're shopping on a budget of $50 or less per item, we've crafted this gift guide specifically for you.

Shopping for thoughtful gifts that the travelers in your life will love is no small feat, so we've rounded up the 11 items you'll want to leave off your list this year-plus, the brilliant replacements that will earn a spot on their packing lists for years to come. From Loop Earplugs to a Trtl Neck Pillow, these are the worthwhile replacements for the most uninspired travel gifts, starting at just $11 at Amazon.

If you've spent any time on TikTok, YouTube, or listening to comedy podcasts while avoiding emails, you've probably encountered Hannah Berner. The Brooklyn born comedian, podcaster, and former tennis player has become the internet's reigning queen of relatable chaos. Her humor is sharp, her delivery is unbothered, and her ability to tell the truth in the most entertaining way possible is the exact energy New York requires.

There was something magical about picking it out, throwing it over your shoulder, and bringing it up to your apartment, despite the pine needles that dropped in the elevator. Still, as an immigrant from the UK, where people literally drag them home or transport them in the back of their vehicle, I still get a kick from seeing cars on the road with a tree strapped to the roof.

As a participant in multiple affiliate marketing programs, Localish will earn a commission for certain purchases. See full disclaimer below* When it comes to holiday shopping, many people love to include their furry companions in the gift-giving fun. That's why we've rounded up some of the best pet gifts for dogs and cats (and the people who love them) this holiday season. From toys to functional gifts that will make pet care easy, consider splurging on your pet with one of the gift ideas, below.

Case in point: Walmart told Business Insider exclusively that its shoppers will be able to place store-fulfilled express delivery orders as late as 5 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve - a full hour later than last year. "More people are using Express Delivery to get their items faster, and December is when it truly shines," Walmart's chief e-commerce officer David Guggina said in a statement.

From a biography buff to a thrill seeker, our critics give a rundown of the year's top books that will make perfect stocking fillers.

It's a well-known fact that women are the primary makers of holiday magic. We're the ones who do the decorating, we're the ones wrapping the gifts, we're the ones making the cookies - we've got a vision, you know? But does being in charge of holiday magic mean we should also buy our own Christmas presents? One mom on the Reddit community Mommit took to the app to ask if she's the only mom buying herself Christmas gifts, and the responses really ran the gamut.

Forget influencers and glossy magazines-this holiday season, Americans are turning to each other for shopping advice. New data from Trustpilot's National Write a Review Week campaign shows a 76% YoY spike in consumer reviews. The initiative, which ran October 20-24, attracted ~4 million visitors nationwide-a 63% jump from the same period in 2024-signaling how heavily shoppers are relying on feedback from real buyers. Trustpilot's AI and Black Friday shopping analysis reinforced the trend as 86% of shoppers checked reviews before making a holiday purchase.

The Black Friday through Cyber Monday stretch known as Cyber Week is known as the best time of year to take advantage of crazy discounts at retail giants like Amazon and big box stores like Best Buy and Target. But it's also a great opportunity to stock up on gifts and essentials from small businesses, many of which only run a handful of sales each year.

The scheme relies on fake notifications, fraudulent websites and malicious links designed to trick shoppers into handing over personal information, including bank details and Amazon login credentials. The e-commerce giant issued the alert in a mass email, warning that cybercriminals are 'targeting Amazon users by reaching out to try and get access to sensitive information like personal or financial information, or Amazon account details.'

Get things wrapped up with our guide to the best ideas - from Notions to Necessities and everything in-between Christmas magic doesn't happen all on its own, in spite of what all the festive ads might lead us to believe. It really would be the most wonderful time of the year if someone did our gift shopping for us. What we all need for our loved ones is a sprinkle of inspiration to ensure they find exactly what they wished for under the Christmas tree.

For the holiday season, Nordstrom's Flagship New York City store has launched Oh, What Funhouse!, a multi-sensory journey through gifting. We wanted to flip the script on traditional holiday shopping, said Olivia Kim, SVP of Creative at Nordstrom. Oh, What Funhouse!' transforms the store into a surreal playground where gifting becomes instinctive, expressive, and joyful. It's about awakening the senses, embracing bold choices, and creating moments that feel unmistakably New York.

OpenAI is reportedly scaling up its crawling infrastructure for the holiday shopping season. The folks at Vercel noticed OpenAI adding a lot of new IP ranges for its bots and crawlers. Ryan Siddle from Merj wrote on LinkedIn, "OpenAI scaling up their infrastructure ahead of Thanksgiving & Black Friday with a lot of /28 blocks." He added later in the comments, "That's just across OpenAI User for new IPs. It doesn't include what they already had. We've seen quite a significant ramp up over the past 1-2 months."

Not only did online shopping make it much easier to buy things for ourselves (whether we needed them or not), but also it was much easier to buy things for other people. And that influx of stuff has also helped illuminate the very short life cycle of "thing I covet" to "dust collector" to "trash." Why would I spend money on a gift that's just going to end up in a landfill?

If you find yourself sticking to a tighter budget this holiday season, you're not alone. Between raising rent prices and grocery costs, the 2025 gift-giving season is shaping up to be one of the most frugal in recent memory. Still, you can check loved ones off of your holiday list and get them a travel gift they'll cherish forever while sticking to your financial goals-the trick is to take advantage of sales from retailers like REI, and use price caps to guide your shopping.

Amazon just dropped a wave of early Black Friday deals, and some are already over 50% off. We're talking major savings on everything from home essentials to holiday gifts. Scroll on for the best steals worth shopping before they sell out (and they will). 2640% Off This Cult-Favorite Hair Dryer That Reduces Static This cult-favorite hair dryer features an ionic design that helps reduce static and frizz, and comes with three included attachments for different hair types and styling, this is really the whole package. The icing on the cake? It's already on sale.

That is a wrap on Design Milk's gift guides for the 2025 holiday season! Whether you're still hunting for that perfect last-minute gem or just getting started, we've gathered all of our 16 guides in one easy place every banner below will take you straight to the curated modern picks you're looking for. Happy browsing, happy gifting, and may your holiday shopping be delightfully stress-free! Hope you enjoyed our 2025 Gift Guide series and thank you for supporting Design Milk!

Getting crafty about cutting corners, consumers are changing their approach to holiday shopping. Against a background of intimidating inflation and tariff costs, the traditional peak spending season is moving away from the short, sharp spending spree that it has always been associated with. Instead, shoppers are shunning impulse buys for a more measured, strategic, and information-led approach. Recent holiday shopping reports help identify these trends.

If everything feels expensive this year, you're not alone. The high cost of living is on many Americans' minds heading into the tail end of the year - a period defined by ceaseless shopping, whether it's for the Thanksgiving menu or a last minute gift for under the tree. Americans need to buy stuff (perhaps stuff), but they're also feeling the pinch of persistent inflation, chaotic tariffs and a frozen job market in 2025.