Post-Prime Day momentum shifts holiday shopping earlier as ChatGPT ads stay marginal

· Retail & E-commerce · United States

Retailers and brands are recalibrating their holiday plans after fall Prime Big Deals Days pushed holiday shopping into October, according to Modern Retail. Shoppers are comparing prices earlier than usual and sellers are already preparing for Black Friday, meaning the promotional calendar has stretched forward. In a separate look at emerging channels, Modern Retail reports that brands are beginning to test advertising inside OpenAI's ChatGPT, but high costs and weak sales mean they expect little of their holiday budget to move away from Google or Meta toward AI platforms this year. Together the two items describe where holiday marketing money is actually going: deeper into established platforms and an earlier, more price-sensitive shopping season, with AI ad formats still experimental rather than material.

Why it matters：Holiday marketing budgets and the promotional calendar are shifting earlier and staying concentrated on established ad platforms, which determines which channels and marketplaces capture fourth-quarter demand.

Key points

  • Fall Prime Big Deals Days is pulling holiday shopping into October as shoppers compare prices earlier.
  • Sellers are using the extra runway to prepare for Black Friday.
  • Brands testing ChatGPT ads cite high costs and weak sales, so little holiday budget is shifting to AI platforms.

Sources (original reporting)

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