How October’s big sales set the stage for holiday 2025 

October’s Amazon Big Deal Days, flanked by rival events at Target and Walmart, confirms that for today’s shoppers, extreme sales operate as planning windows more than purchase windows. Billions still move through carts, but before they click purchase, consumers are comparing prices, checking delivery windows, and weighing return policies—and with the help of agentic AI, they can do it all without even visiting the retailer’s website. 

Most of all, they seem to be waiting. Many of the highest GMV days took place after the sales window. What does that mean for Black Friday, and the rest of the holiday season?

What we learned from October 2025 

Walmart opened its October event to everyone (with a head start for Walmart+), and Target deepened member-led offers. This broad access framed the holiday season’s opening moves.  Amazon buyers focused on everyday essentials with 58% saying they were satisfied with the deals, 23% saying they already purchased gifts, and 84% plan to buy holiday items on Amazon in the next three months. October sales, in other words, were the first round of the peak holiday shopping season, with shoppers starting early, but planning on more shopping to do. This is another sign that shoppers aren’t responding to urgency-driven hype the way they used to. They’re shopping on their own terms, watching closely, waiting longer, and buying based on intent, not impulse. 

Shoppers plan, retailers widen the window, and mobile and agentic AI set the terms. Here are some of the biggest patterns we saw in October’s sales push:. 

• Demand is real, but disciplined. Forecasts call for a sizable holiday spend, driven by mobile and a fast increase in AI-assisted shopping traffic, up 520% year over year. Shoppers are doing more research in less time. 

• Access beats exclusivity. Walmart’s “no membership required” positioning and Target’s member perks ran in parallel with Amazon’s event, giving shoppers many options  rather than anchoring them to one singular price drop  

• October is a staging ground. Reuters and Adobe flag October’s Amazon event as a multi-billion-dollar catalyst that pulls forward  holiday spend without exhausting demands. The shopping that started with October sales is expected to stretch longer, not be done earlier. 

• Category mix matters. Numerator’s early read shows baskets heavy on household essentials alongside selective gifting. Consumers are being mindful about what they spend. 

Shoppers are comparing across channels, pacing their purchases, and prioritizing convenience and trust. They check prices, delivery windows, and return policies before they buy. With Rithum, that behavior works in your favor: pricing, promises, and product details stay consistent across every touchpoint. Your returns policy doesn’t change from one channel to the next. And when the market shifts, you shift with it—because Rithum connects marketplace data, retail media, and fulfillment in real time. One update moves across platforms, so you can reallocate spend or inventory seamlessly.

Holiday 2025 retail strategy: next steps

Adobe expects U.S. online holiday spend to reach $253.4B, with mobile driving a majority share (56.1%) and buy now, pay later (BNPL) adding another $20.2B—evidence that convenience and flexibility, not just markdowns, will shape conversion. 

October sales set the tone for the season. Now is the time to stay consistent and make sure you’re keeping the same price, promise, and product facts everywhere. Push what is already selling and remove the friction that shoppers flagged. Start here: 

• Plan promotions around what shoppers actually want at different times, instead of relying on the same event-driven discounts.  

• Adjust product mixes and creative in real time to highlight what’s trending or to support categories that need a lift.  

• Connect messaging and offers across marketplaces, retail media, and owned channels so shoppers get a consistent experience wherever they buy. (Most teams are already shifting where they show up: 91% of retail leaders and 84% of brands changed their marketing channel mix in the last year.) 

• Use first-party data to personalize offers and reduce dependence on paid ads.  

• Measure success by long-term value don’t focus on short-term sales spikes. Repeat customers, lifetime spend, and loyalty are the your better long-term value drivers..  

• Partner with marketplaces and vendors to build limited-time experiences that create excitement and reach new audiences.  

• Re-engage peak-season buyers after the event with thoughtful follow-ups that turn one-time shoppers into loyal customers.  

• Put delivery dates and a clean returns promise on the page. Return policies are a decision filter at scale. 41% say the returns policy influences where they buy — so make the promise visible and easy to use. 

October shows that the 2025 shopper is steady, selective, and ready to buy when the facts are clear. Keep the same price, promise, and product story everywhere, make the mobile experience flawless, and turn returns into trust. To see how Rithum connects your marketplaces, media, and fulfillment so you can act on this now, contact Rithum to learn more.