'Christmas creep' is here as the retail season starts early. But is it about consumerism or comfort?
Stores of all stripes brought out their festive collections weeks earlier this year
If you're a parent of young kids, chances are you've already purchased matching family Christmas pyjamas.
Stores typically start carrying them in October if not sooner, after all, and if you want the correct sizes (or close enough) and one of your top three choices of prints, you have to move fast. And that's just the pyjamas.
Christmas decor? Your local dollar store has probably had it on display beside the Halloween candy since the leaves started turning.
Christmas inflatables? Costco has had them on display for months, so if you've entered the store with a child in that time, good luck to you — your yard is already Bluey's Family Christmas. But at least you can take in the sight while sipping your favourite Starbucks holiday drink, ready to fill the PSL-sized hole in your wallet since Nov. 7.
If it seems like the Christmas shopping season starts earlier every year, you're not wrong. In response to growing customer demand, stores of all stripes have brought out their festive collections weeks before the unofficial Nov. 1 start of the holiday shopping season — and well in advance of the other unofficial "only after Remembrance Day" cut-off.
In the United States, a shorter holiday season — with only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas — has forced retailers, including Walmart, Target and Amazon, as well as China's Shein and Temu, to introduce early deals. With Black Friday falling five days later than in previous years, the retail competition is steep, notes Deloitte Canada.
"There's more time before Black Friday than after, creating a unique dynamic," Eric Morris, managing director of Google's retail practice in Canada, told Canadian retail news site Retail Insider on Monday. He added that this means a lengthier research phase for shoppers, giving retailers more time to engage.
In Canada, consumers plan to do most of their shopping between Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, according to PwC's 2024 Canadian Holiday Outlook. They also plan to spend eight per cent more than last year, according to the Retail Council of Canada's 2024 holiday shopping survey.
"Advertisers are starting their holiday campaigns earlier — a strategy known as 'Christmas Creep' — to combat holiday fatigue and reach consumers before the main season," writes media and streaming industry analysis organization MNTN Research.
"Hearing the echoes of Mariah Carey's iconic holiday song on the wind? You're not alone: advertisers are ramping up their holiday and Q4 efforts earlier than ever."
Speaking of which, Carey herself declared "it's time" on Nov. 1 as she posted her annual introduction to her Christmas anthem, All I Want For Christmas Is You — this year in partnership with Kay Jewelers, which launched "Mariah Carey's Holiday Gift Picks."
Holiday merch out early
The top holiday toy lists are typically released early. Walmart released its annual holiday top toys list on Sept. 9, Amazon's came out Oct. 2 and Toys "R" Us Canada's was launched on Oct. 3 — all similar dates to the previous year.
But MNTN Research notes there were almost double the number of holiday advertising campaigns in September this year compared with last, and says that 40 per cent of consumers started their holiday shopping that month.
Holiday merchandise traditionally has started showing up in stores in mid-October, and holiday offerings ramp up starting in mid-November. But the big push this year is expected to be in early November, according to Stephen Yalof, president and CEO of Tanger, a leading operator of upscale, outdoor shopping centres across 20 U.S. states and Canada.
Members of Bath and Body Works' loyalty program could peruse a holiday preview collection of candles in scents like "Winter Candy Apple" and "Bright Christmas Morning" starting Sept. 24. Last year, customers in the rewards program didn't get access to those products until Oct. 3, and the holiday-themed merchandise didn't launch in stores until Oct. 9.
Influencers have joined in on social media, posting videos (often set to Mariah Carey) of tearing down their Halloween decor and replacing it with Christmas decor on Nov. 1.
"My pumpkin!" jokingly screams the daughter of influencer Jane Williamson, a.k.a. "Utah Mom," as Williamson punts the jack-o'-lantern down the street, rips off her Halloween costume to reveal a festive sweater and says, "Chickenleigh, it's Christmas" before sprinting to Walmart to stock up on supplies.
"It's been an ongoing retail movement over the last few years of bringing sales forward, it's 'holiday creep,' or 'Black October' — whatever you want to call it," Adam Davis, managing director of Wells Fargo retail finance, told CBS MoneyWatch in October.
"Retailers are trying to maximize sales by elongating the season to get as much share of wallet as possible."
'A cultural signal'
But Forbes has a different take, calling "Christmas creep" a reflection of our modern culture and "collective desire for traditions and comfort in times that can feel uncertain."
"While some may view the early onset of Christmas as a sign of commercial overreach, it's ultimately a cultural signal. We are creatures who seek connection and celebration, and Christmas — no matter when it starts — is the ultimate expression of that need," the publication noted last week.
Others on social media have expressed a similar sentiment. Of the roughly 50,000 TikTok videos that use the hashtag #November1st, most are about the user's joy of setting up for the holidays.
"They say those who put up their Christmas decor early are 100 per cent happier than those who don't," writes one user in a video of her fully decorated house on Oct. 31.
"I have been called a nutcase a few times for putting up my tree so early. Any more nutcases like me out there who are full embracing the cosy season? It makes us happy, OK?" wrote another person on Nov. 10.
"Decorating brings joy and reduces stress. They're just decorating earlier because it's freaking stressful right now," Balsam Hill CEO Mac Harman told The Associated Press, citing war in the Mideast, hurricanes and political division, among other crises. "There's just so much going on."
But Suzanne Rath, an assistant professor of business at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, recently told CBC Radio's Island Morning that even though it's beneficial for brands, she finds the holiday creep stressful and annoying. And so could some consumers.
"There might be some part of the population who might have some sort of visceral negative response," Rath said.
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With files from The Associated Press and Reuters