Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
No time like the present
Consumer | Retail
October 16, 2025 – Many consumers plan to begin their holiday shopping well before the traditional Black Friday sales. Shopping habits, however, tend to differ by generation, note Senior Partner Becca Coggins and colleagues. A recent survey of approximately 4,000 US consumers found that 37 percent of millennial shoppers and 33 percent of Gen Zers planned to begin holiday shopping before October. Only 20 percent of baby boomers indicated they would do the same, while 22 percent said they wouldn’t participate in holiday shopping at all this year.
To read the article, see “An update on US consumer sentiment: Settling in for a tepid holiday season,” August 29, 2025.
customizer here
Visual form
Sankey / Flow Diagram: generation-by-month holiday-shopping timing flow with a total summary column.
Layout / body structure
The chart runs left to right through Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, Baby boomer, and Total columns. Within each generation, month bands are stacked from early shopping windows through December and nonparticipation.
What is being compared
It compares when different generations plan to start holiday shopping, from before August through December, and then summarizes the overall respondent mix in the Total column.
Measurement system
Every labeled block is a percent of respondents. Band thickness and printed values show the share choosing each shopping window.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Colored month bands connect across the generational columns, so the reader can track how each timing category changes from younger to older consumers. The far-right Total column collapses those cohort patterns into the overall distribution.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows that early holiday shopping is meaningful, especially among younger consumers, but shopping timing is still sharply split by generation.
Key standout values or extremes
Before-August shopping reaches 15 percent for millennials and 13 percent for Gen Z. Baby boomers stand out at 22 percent for December and 22 percent not participating, while the Total column peaks at 21 percent for November before Black Friday and 16 percent for October.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a fixed generation-by-month flow diagram; there are no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the holiday-shopping timing flow diagram is the visual on this page.