Holiday Season Categories: Buyers Prefer Electronics, Care Products and Hobby & Leisure for Christmas

The holiday season has arrived, a particularly significant time for online retail. With discount days and end-of-year seasonal sales, consumers have the opportunity to spend their income on popular gift-giving categories.

With the help of monthly e-commerce revenue, we at ECDB checked the data to see which categories thrive at the end of the year in the United States – and are thus considered typical holiday season categories.

Which categories stand out compared to the market average? What can we learn about consumer preferences and spending patterns? Here is what the data says.

Methodology: Examining Monthly Sales Growth

Product categories were selected for depiction based on month-on-month growth rates. Using the forecast values for 2025, we plotted the growth of each category against the market average for each month from October to December.

We identified categories that grew above average for at least two out of three months as holiday season categories. These categories include Electronics, Hobby & Leisure and Care Products.

October: Early Holiday Shopping and First Retailer Events

A common pattern across categories is a high increase in October spend compared to the previous month. In the United States, the Amazon Prime event certainly plays a role, as do competing retailers' discount events.

The holiday season begins earlier each year. Consumers are eager to take advantage of the lowest prices, which is why concerns about price increases and shortages due to overdemand and shipping delays contribute to October revenues.

Electronics see the highest growth this month, as they do in November. In October 2025, Electronics are expected to increase by 26% from the previous month, compared to an 18% market average. Hobby & Leisure grows by 22% and therefore comes second.

November: Major Shopping Event Period Benefits Larger Purchases

November sees further growth, driven by major shopping events like Thanksgiving Day, Cyber Week, and Singles’ Day. The average growth across all US categories in November from the previous month is 10%.

Among the selected, Electronics surpasses this growth rate with 16%, followed by Care Products with 13%. Both categories thrive during shopping events: Consumers typically wait a little longer to conduct major electronics purchases during these events to take advantage of discounts.

Similarly, Care Products thrive during shopping events because online shoppers love stocking up on everyday essentials and more expensive cosmetics. November is therefore when Care Products surpass average rates, leaving behind Hobby & Leisure, which has a below-average growth of 5%.

December: Last-Minute Purchases Benefit Some Categories Over Others

Growth flattens slightly from previous increases in December, while still gaining overall. On average, categories grow by 3% from the previous month. This time, Electronics stays at the same level as in November (growth of 0%), thereby falling below the average rate.

Hobby & Leisure and Care Products both grow by 5%. Cyber Monday contributes to higher growth. It is the largest shopping day of the Cyber Week and benefits last-minute holiday shoppers.

Particularly Flowers & Gifts, subcategory of Hobby & Leisure, grows in December: At a rate of 18% from the previous month, it represents the typical holiday category that is bought in preparation for Christmas Eve.

Hobby & Leisure: A Wide Category With High Gift-Giving Properties

A few Hobby & Leisure subcategories stand out as holiday season purchases. They include Flowers & Gifts, Media, Stationery, Arts & Crafts and Toys. Needless to say that during the early season in October these categories thrive at rates of 24% and beyond.

While growth slows slightly in November, it increases again in December. Typical holiday gifts are therefore bought either early, during the first retailer discounts; at a consistent rate, during shopping events; or frequently, for last-minute shopping in December.

Summary: Typical Holiday-Season Categories

We identified Electronics, Hobby & Leisure (including Flowers & Gifts, Media, Stationery, Arts & Crafts, and Toys), as well as Care Products as typical gift-giving categories. They are suited for holiday sales, as shoppers like to take advantage of discounts for higher-priced items and holiday purchases. These categories perform differently throughout the fourth quarter, in accordance with the occurrence of shopping events and consumer purchasing behavior.