It’s late September.
That might still feel early to start worrying about holiday sales.
It isn’t.
Holiday shopping has been stretching earlier for years. The National Retail Federation says roughly two in five holiday shoppers now start browsing and buying before November, often because they want to spread out their spending, avoid the last-minute rush, or take advantage of earlier promotions.
Amazon is reinforcing that behavior again this year, with Prime Big Deal Days arriving October 6 and 7.
And shoppers aren’t just buying earlier.
They’re starting the decision-making process earlier, too.
Google’s holiday research shows that shoppers using AI during the buying process interact with considerably more touchpoints as they research, compare, and narrow down their choices.
A customer might search Google, ask an AI assistant for recommendations, compare products on Amazon, watch a video, see an Instagram or Facebook ad, read reviews, come back to Google, and only then decide what to buy.
The purchase may happen in November.
The decision about who gets the purchase can happen weeks before that.
There’s another reason September matters
The advertising platforms businesses use to reach those shoppers also need a head start.
This year, Microsoft is explicitly telling advertisers to have their holiday foundations in place well before November.
Why?
Its automated advertising systems need time and enough real customer activity to understand what works. Microsoft recommends allowing at least four weeks for a new automated bidding strategy to stabilize before peak holiday demand arrives.
Google recommends even more runway for some of its AI-powered advertising. For a new Performance Max campaign, Google recommends allowing it to run for at least six weeks so the system can gather enough information to learn and optimize.
That means a business that waits until November to start thinking seriously about holiday advertising may be asking its campaigns to learn what works while customers are already shopping.
Meta doesn’t give businesses the same four- or six-week holiday countdown, but the direction is similar. Facebook and Instagram advertising increasingly relies on AI to decide which people should see an ad, which creative to show them, and which opportunities are most likely to produce a sale.
Across the major platforms, the message is becoming pretty consistent:
Give the systems good information and enough time before demand peaks.
Your customers and your marketing are both starting earlier
That changes what “holiday ready” really means.
It’s no longer just:
What are we putting on sale?
When does our Black Friday promotion start?
What email are we sending on Thanksgiving?
Businesses should also be asking:
Can customers find us while they’re still researching?
Does Google understand our products or services well enough to recommend them?
Are our Amazon listings and advertising ready before early deal shopping starts?
Are we staying visible on Facebook and Instagram while customers are comparing options?
Do our advertising platforms have enough information to understand which customers are actually valuable?
And does our website turn that early interest into a sale or lead once someone arrives?
That’s why SEO, Google Ads, Meta, Amazon, AI visibility, content, and measurement matter together during the holidays.
Customers don’t experience them as separate marketing channels.
They experience them as one buying journey.
November should be the payoff, not the starting line
Deloitte expects holiday ecommerce sales to grow 7.5% to 8.4% this season, faster than overall retail sales.
There will be plenty of holiday demand.
The question is whether your business will already be positioned to capture it when it arrives.
Because if shoppers are starting earlier, Amazon is starting earlier, and the advertising platforms themselves are telling businesses their systems need time to prepare, then waiting until the holiday rush is underway carries a real cost.
There is still time to get ready. But that window is closing.
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The businesses that use the next few weeks to strengthen visibility, advertising, product data, measurement, and conversion paths will be in a much better position when holiday demand peaks.
Is your business ready for the holiday customer journey?
Our ScaledOn Opportunity Review looks across search, Google Ads, Meta, Amazon, AI visibility, measurement, and your website to identify where your business may be leaving opportunities on the table.
We’ll help you see what’s working, what may be holding you back, and where there’s still time to make an impact before holiday demand peaks.
-Iulia
