Holiday shoppers may head to stores this year, but retailers face cautious consumers

Too soon to think about the holidays? Not if you’re a retailer trying to stay ahead of shifting consumer preferences.

Per Alchemer’s recent 2026 holiday shopper report, in-store shopping is likely to top online purchases this holiday season—35.8% of customers plan on going to physical stores to make a purchase while 31.1% are likely to head online to shop. Meanwhile, 19.2% said they foresee “an even mix” of online and in-store shopping.

Inflation pressure is also likely to impact holiday shopping this year, with 38.2% of those surveyed saying a limited budget will be the biggest factor influencing their spending decisions. In fact, many shoppers (42.7%) would go as far as abandoning a brand they like if there were price hikes.

The report echoes sentiments from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon who warned that inflation might have an impact on consumer behavior in the latter half of this year.

Beyond pricing, retailers don’t have much room for error this holiday season. Running out of stock remains shoppers’ biggest gripe, cited by 41% of consumers, while hidden fees at checkout frustrate 32.3% of shoppers. And for 30.6%, a sluggish checkout is enough to sour the experience.

The report additionally found that AI is something consumers are slowly becoming accustomed to as part of the shopping experience but with limited trust.

In fact, nearly half of shoppers (48.5%) used an AI tool to research a purchase over the past year, but only 35.4% trust AI-generated shopping recommendations completely or mostly, while 42% believe online reviews may be fake or influenced by AI.

The findings are in line with other recent research. For instance, a July 2026 Caimera survey found that 70% of shoppers were “neutral or conditionally open” to the use of AI imagery as long as it’s being used for settings like enhancing backgrounds, lighting, or staging in photos. But using it to change “substance”—meaning fit, color, or efficacy—was a trust breach.