In 2025, brands and retailers that succeed will provide a consistent, dependable presence across every channel where consumers shop. This is especially true during the peak sales events, when high-quality product listings, accurate inventory and pricing, and compliance with the specific requirements of each marketplace are the only ways to stand out in a crowded field. In 2024, we saw what worked (and what didn’t) for brands and retailers hoping to capture the momentum of peak sales events. This guide outlines what brands and retailers can expect during each major sales period, drawing on 2024’s results and how to plan your 2025 e-commerce strategy with a scalable approach.
Amazon Prime Day (July)
Amazon’s 2024 Prime Day was its biggest ever, with independent sellers moving over 200 million items1. US e-commerce spending during Prime Week surpassed $14.2 billion2. In the UK and EMEA markets, Prime Day 2024 also set local records, with Amazon UK reporting the highest-ever customer participation3.
Prime Day drives significant midyear revenue spikes and builds customer acquisition momentum across North America, Europe, and key APAC markets.
How Rithum helps:
- Orchestrates synchronized campaigns across Amazon and rival marketplaces.
- Connects brands with a trusted supplier network.
- Dynamically adjusts retail media advertising based on real-time product demand.
- Uses AI (AI Magic Mapper) to automatically align products with marketplace categories.
Back-to-School (July–September)
Back-to-school spending in the US reached $38.8 billion⁴ in 2024, with over half of families beginning their shopping by early July. Globally, the back-to-school season drives strong demand in countries like Canada, the UK, Australia, and across EMEA, especially in the categories of electronics, apparel, and dorm essentials.
Back-to-school season fuels steady Q3 revenue across multiple regions, requiring localized inventory and marketing strategies.
How Rithum helps:
- Rithum enables you to launch back-to-school storefronts and promotions across channels.
- Uses forecasting tools to optimize inventory allocation regionally.
- Links digital marketing and commerce efforts for a cohesive consumer experience.
Labor Day Sales (Early September)
Labor Day continues to be a major seasonal clearance event in the US, particularly across categories like apparel, home goods, and electronics. In 2024, consumers demonstrated even stronger price sensitivity during major discount periods. According to Adobe Analytics, price sensitivity—the extent to which shoppers adjust their purchasing behavior based on discounts—increased by 2.5% compared to the previous year5. This shift contributed to an additional $305 million in online spending across key sales events like Prime Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day weekend.
Although Labor Day is primarily a North American event, early September clearance promotions are now common across retail calendars in parts of EMEA and APAC, marking a seasonal shift in inventory. Retailers worldwide use the end of summer to clear seasonal stock and shift their focus to launching new products for the fourth quarter.
How Rithum helps:
- Automates clearance markdowns and promotional updates across marketplaces.
- Helps Identify surplus inventory and supports targeted liquidation strategies.
- Supports every customer’s delivery needs by choosing a customized approach to fulfillment and shipping.
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days (October)
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days in October 2024 outperformed the previous year’s event⁶, driving early holiday shopping momentum. Participation expanded globally, with strong performances noted in Germany, Japan, and Canada. UK consumers were also increasingly engaged, drawn by earlier holiday promotions.
October now represents an early holiday surge worldwide, allowing brands to secure early gift budgets before traditional Black Friday cycles.
How Rithum helps:
- Aligns holiday kickoff promotions across Amazon, DTC sites, and competing marketplaces.
- Optimizes fall retail media spend based on early season consumer behavior.
- Allows you to adjust inventory strategies based on real-time early holiday sales trends.
Singles’ Day (November 11)
Singles’ Day 2024 reaffirmed its position as the world’s largest shopping event, with sales across major Chinese e-commerce platforms reaching an estimated ¥1.44 trillion (approximately $199 billion), a 26.6% increase year-over-year7. While Alibaba and JD.com did not report total GMV, both saw strong performance: JD.com reported a 20% increase in shoppers, and 45 brands on Alibaba surpassed ¥1 billion ($138 million) in sales8. The event continues to create significant cross-border opportunity, with growing engagement across Hong Kong, Singapore, and Southeast Asia.
How Rithum helps:
- Integrates cross-border marketplace listings with fulfillment visibility.
- Optimizes localized retail media campaigns for consumer expectations.
Black Friday (November 28)
Black Friday 2024 delivered $10.8 billion in US online sales9, up eight percent year-over-year, with nearly 58% of sales completed via mobile devices. Globally, Black Friday also showed strong results: the UK saw a 5% increase in online sales compared to 2023, and key markets in EMEA and APAC launched localized Black Friday promotions to capture demand.
Black Friday has become a truly worldwide phenomenon, setting expectations for deep discounts and seamless omnichannel shopping experiences everywhere.
How Rithum helps:
- Adjust pricing, promotions, and inventory availability across all channels.
- Allows you to adjust advertising budgets based on live product performance.
- Our centralized dashboard provides brands and retailers with a view of operations to track and synchronize fulfillment, inventory and orders across multiple channels.
Cyber Monday (December 1)
Cyber Monday 2024 set a record with $13.3 billion in US online sales10. Globally, Cyber Monday continues to grow as an e-commerce-specific event, with EMEA and LATAM markets increasingly adopting the model, often extending into Cyber Week promotions.
Peak online traffic during Cyber Monday requires exceptional coordination across channels and fulfillment networks worldwide.
How Rithum helps:
- Advanced targeting capabilities enhance ad relevance and boost engagement and conversion rates.
- Synchronizes promotions to extend Cyber 5 opportunities.
- Supports real-time site and fulfillment monitoring during order surges.
Holiday and Christmas Shopping (October–December)
Total US holiday retail sales reached $994.1 billion in 2024, with $296.7 billion coming from online and non-store sales11. Globally, retail holiday sales in EMEA and APAC regions also rose, driven by early promotions starting in October and extending through December.
The holiday season is now a multi-month, global event, requiring consistent operations and flexible fulfillment to meet regionally specific shipping deadlines and customer expectations.
How Rithum helps:
- Helps you manage your inventory and product organization throughout the season.
- Manages end-to-end (E2E) inventory and shipping optimization to help retailers provide more accurate and precise delivery promise dates and operational insights.
- Rithum’s data includes historical data that can help you forecast return rates on new products.
Boxing Day and Year-End Clearance (December 26–31)
Boxing Day 2024 drove over £4.6 billion in sales in the UK12, with strong online performance despite modest declines in foot traffic. Australia and Canada also saw Boxing Day emerge as a key clearance opportunity, with steep discounting on seasonal merchandise.
Clearance sales during this final week set the stage for clean year-end inventory positions globally.
How Rithum helps:
- Leverage a network of more than 40,000 brands and retailers, more than 420 marketplaces, and retail sites.
- Launch, track and automate your inventory quantity, prices and product data across global marketplaces
Rithum’s unified commerce platform equips businesses to meet every peak event with precision, efficiency, and scale, connecting marketing, commerce, and fulfillment into one cohesive strategy.
Connect with Rithum to start building a more profitable, resilient 2025 strategy. Schedule a demo today.
Sources: