Holidays 2024 Installment 6: Christy Parrish Predicts the Spending Future

Christy Parrish is the Senior Director of Client Partnerships at Cordial, shares her 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions in Street Fight’s exclusive interview. With a focus on customer behavior and channel preferences, Parrish delivers unique insights for retailers navigating the season

What is your #1 shopping prediction for this holiday season?

In her Holiday Shopping Predictions  for 2024, Christy Parrish explains the evolving retail strategy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions are starting even earlier this year, as they have over the past few years. We’re seeing a complete shift in retailers’ mindset and strategy. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer days or shopping holidays. They’re adjectives that describe a season and elicit a consumer response.

With a focus on sustained engagement throughout the holiday season and post-holiday retention, brands are pushing for multiple ‘buying events’ during the holiday period: Black Friday in October, Black Friday on Black Friday, and Black Friday right before and after specific holidays. This is part of a larger strategy to encourage more full-price selling as brands move away from constant discounting. So, instead of a standalone Black Friday sale, we’ll see seasonal rewards and loyalty programs to encourage post-holiday purchases and re-targeting to encourage more self-gifting rather than just purchasing gifts for others. 

With this shift in mindset, brands and retailers develop better long-term planning strategies. For example, holiday marketing strategies should be planned six quarters in advance, with current tactics informing future strategies. This means retailers must consider the next holiday season before revisiting the upcoming one. 

Additionally, while many assume elections impact sales, that’s not the case. Historically, presidential elections have not significantly impacted holiday sales, but short-term effects will appear around the election period: panic and anxiety buying. We’ll see a spike in customers purchasing items to cope or celebrate right after the election.”

What will people be buying?

“With the flood of marketing emails and SMS messages right now, personalization is the buzzword this year—and the perfect excuse to kick off early holiday marketing. Brands are going all-in on customization, from color combos to engraving, catering to a social media crowd obsessed with aesthetics. It’s all about that ‘pretty, pleasing, and monogrammed’ vibe, and consumers can’t get enough!”

How will marketers and brands up their games this year?

“The lines between physical and digital shopping experiences will continue to blur, impacting marketing and brand strategy. Retailers will prioritize strategies like geofencing in mobile marketing, require consistency in messaging across all touchpoints, digital and physical, and look at the customer journey more holistically than they have previously. While channels like email will remain viable for Millennials and Gen X, mobile will become more understood by marketers. Mobile will break ground as the go-to channel for retailers looking to align physical and digital shopping experiences. Retailers will also continue to invest in ‘Buy Online, Pick Up In Store’ and ‘Buy Online, Return In Store’ options. 

We’re seeing large brands invest more in their physical footprint, and primarily DTC brands now opening stores. This holiday season, brick-and-mortar stores will continue to be relevant, with a potential resurgence in the coming year.”

How will AI and other technologies impact the holiday shopping process? 

“For 25 years, retail leaders have claimed to send the right message to the right person at the right time in the right channel, but we’ve never truly delivered.”  In her holiday shopping predictions, Christy Parrish highlights AI as a game-changer, enabling brands to deliver personalized messages and better inventory targeting. ” AI can quickly identify customer needs, match the inventory with the right buyers and craft personalized messages — all without relying on rock-bottom pricing. 

We’re not just talking about better promotions. We’re talking about a shift in how we approach marketing. Imagine targeting T-shirt buyers with excess inventory or finding the perfect audience for subscription services. This isn’t just an efficiency play; it’s about creating deeper, more meaningful customer connections. This holiday season, AI should be more than just a strategic enabler. It should be the cornerstone of how brands understand and engage their audiences.”

What are YOU asking “Santa” for this year or expecting to find by the candles at your holiday celebration?

“This year, I’m asking Santa for something that’s become more precious with age—time with the people I love. A few plane tickets under the tree would mean the world, allowing me to visit family scattered across the country. These days, it’s not about things but moments—like sharing dinner with my grown kids—that make the season truly special. If I had to pick a material item, I’d lean on Santa to bring me the perfect-sized roller bag to fit just one night of travel duds, with room for shoes and all the rest!”

Wrapping up her 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions, Christy Parrish reminds us that the holiday season is about more than sales—it’s about creating moments that truly matter. Hoping all of our contributors to this series get their wishes granted this year! We’ll be reporting on how many of these predictions actually came true!