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Dive Brief:
As retailers face global headwinds going into the holidays, 78% of industry buyers say they have utilized AI-enabled tools to enhance buying activities, according to Deloitte’s 2025 Retail Holiday Buyer Survey. Nearly three-quarters said they are specifically using the technology to handle changes in trade policies.
In the survey of 50 retail industry buyers, respondents said they placed over half of holiday orders by the end of May — about two months sooner compared to the survey’s 2024 insights.
Meanwhile, 78% of respondents said they’re worried about attaining proper inventory levels and 76% are concerned with supplier reliability due to geopolitical tensions.
Dive Insight:
The impact of shifting consumer sentiment and an evolving trade landscape are top of mind ahead of the holiday shopping season.
In Deloitte’s new holiday survey, 20% of retail buyers say they’ve paused shipments of some orders until the trade environment is more certain and 18% have even canceled orders they determined were unprofitable. The survey was conducted between May 20 and June 4, and U.S. tariff policies have continued to change weekly since then.
Almost half of retail buyers noted they plan to source from new vendors, while a smaller amount aim to negotiate better terms with suppliers or increase domestic sourcing. In recent months, several retail companies (such as Target, Best Buy and Warby Parker) have expressed mitigation efforts related to tariffs that include sourcing from new countries, particularly outside China.
Additionally, 76% of the surveyed retail buyers expect consumers to buy discretionary goods only around promotional periods. The new insight adds to a June report from Deloitte that found price-conscious consumers anticipate spending 40% to 50% less this year on discretionary goods.
Data from Inmar Intelligence released in July found that consumers are certainly looking toward holiday promotions to fuel discretionary gifts — even at the expense of other purchases. In its 2025 Holiday Commerce Forecast, 82% of surveyed consumers said they’d plan to cut back on groceries and other essentials to cover holiday purchases.