6 Takeaways for Retailers to Achieve a Winning Holiday Season

The kick-off for the holiday shopping season has begun, with Black Friday well underway and Cyber Monday just around the corner. As shoppers across the nation get into the festive season and begin the hunt for the perfect gifts for their loved ones, one key message emerges. While it’s not secret that shoppers receive countless marketing messages, a new report shows that sheer volume isn’t what overwhelms them. Rather than being put off by too many ads, shoppers are negatively affected by irrelevant ones. 

According to the ‘Marketing Fatigue Report from Optimove’ (based on a November 2025 survey of 1,034 consumers), 56 percent of shoppers feel marketing fatigue due to messaging irrelevance. For brands and retailers alike, this represents a strategic opportunity, as they can maintain or even increase communication frequency during peak shopping periods like Black Friday/Cyber Monday without alienating customers - provided the sent messages are personalized and behavior-driven.

Ahead of December, we share six essential takeaways from the report for fashion retailers and brands to help them have a successful holiday selling season.

1. Send more messages, not less - but only if they’re personalized

One of the main takeaways from the report was that message overload only bothers shoppers when it is irrelevant, with 56 percent of respondents feeling marketing fatigue when an ad does not land. While generic promotional messaging was found to underperform regardless of frequency, the report found that shoppers actively welcome frequent communication when it aligns with their interests, browsing behavior, and purchase history, so don’t limit your communication frequency out of fear of annoying customers. 

We recommend that you segment messaging by style preferences, past purchases, browsing behavior, and size instead of blasting identical promotions to your entire database. It may take more work on the back-end, but high-frequency communication does work when each message feels handpicked for the recipient.

2. Launch early and target shoppers smartly

Surprisingly, many of the respondents noted that they do not perceive early Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotions as intrusive “holiday creep.” Rather, 72 percent stated that early Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaigns helped them plan their holiday shopping and set a budget, thereby increasing their purchase likelihood. 

We recommend that retailers start targeted campaigns for periods like Black Friday 2 to 3 weeks in advance, especially for VIP customers, recent browsers, and cart abandoners. Frame these campaigns as “early access” or “preview” opportunities tied to their demonstrated interests, as early-access offers tied to browsing behavior were found to significantly outperform mass-distributed promotions. Avoid sending out generic early-bird discounts to everyone on your mailing list.

3. Differentiate on relevance when discounts are identical

During peak holiday shopping days, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many competitor retailers and brands will likely offer similar discounts on similar products. This is where personalization and relevance become your competitive edge. Half of shoppers  (50 percent) said they prioritize securing the biggest discount, but 21 percent stated they value personalized recommendations and convenience equally. 

Rather than just offering a comparable discount, why not turn offers like “25% off everything” into “25% off your favorite designers” or “The denim you’ve been browsing is now 30% off.” More personal than a generic discount, this strategy combines competitive pricing with behavioral targeting and can be applied to shoppers’ style preferences, previously purchased brands, or wishlist items.

4. Distribute across channels to reduce email fatigue

Another takeaway, shoppers stated that they weren’t fatigued by multi-channel communication, but that they’re fatigued by email over-concentration. 55 percent of respondents cite email as the most overwhelming channel during holiday sales. 

Instead of overly relying on email messaging, we recommend coordinating messaging across email, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messages based on customer engagement patterns. For example, use SMS for time-sensitive flash sales and restocks, email for editorial content and styling guides, and push notifications for personalized price drops on items they’ve viewed.

5. Make customers feel recognized, not rushed

While some may think sending out messages with urgency tactics like “limited time,” “don’t miss out”, the report found that exclusivity messaging outperformed urgency by more than 2:1 (53 percent vs 24 percent). In addition, loyalty program members responded more positively to higher message frequency when it acknowledged their relationship with the brand. In contrast, VIP-only campaigns generated higher engagement and lower fatigue scores.

Therefore, we recommend that brands and retailers replace messaging like “Last chance!” and “Limited time!” with phrases like “Curated for you,” “Member preview,” and “Exclusive first access.” We also recommend creating tiered rollouts: loyalty members shop first, engaged browsers next, then the general audience. Overall, recognition-based messaging was found to generate higher engagement and lower fatigue, making it a winning combination.

6. Catch ready buyers early with confident, curated messaging

Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, nearly half of shoppers surveyed (46 percent) stated that they plan to increase holiday spending versus last year. Only 23 percent of respondents said they planned to decrease spending, indicating that the majority of shoppers are selective but purchase-ready. 

In order to win over shoppers, we recommend using phased campaigns, with early waves capturing ready-to-buy customers and later waves activating additional segments as they enter shopping mode. Position your messaging and offers around “smart value” and curation—“Chosen for your style,” “Based on what you love”—to build confidence with shoppers and reduce decision friction rather than offer further discounts. 

To make the most of this holiday selling season, fashion retailers should prioritize relevance over restraint. The brands that win this holiday season will be those that increase personalization, not those that decrease message volume.