Holiday Chaos, Local Opportunity: How Media Sellers Can Help Shoppers Find Their Way

Read Time: 8 minutes

By any traditional measure, this should be a nervous holiday season. Consumers are still wrestling with higher prices, stubborn borrowing costs and a steady drumbeat of economic uncertainty. Yet when researchers ask shoppers what they actually plan to do between now and New Year’s, most say the same thing: they’re going to buy.

Accenture’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey finds that roughly nine in ten U.S. consumers expect to spend the same or more on gifts than they did last year, even as they keep a wary eye on their finances. The National Retail Federation, for its part, is forecasting that holiday sales will top $1 trillion for the first time.

The problem isn’t demand. It’s confusion.

Accenture reports that 76% of shoppers feel overwhelmed by the number of products and promotions in front of them, and 85% say they are likely to abandon purchases altogether because of frustration or indecision. In other words: customers aren’t closing their wallets as much as they’re getting lost on the way to the register.

For local media sellers and agency professionals, that’s not a retail footnote. It’s the brief. Your value this season is not simply “delivering impressions.” It’s helping retailers simplify choices, reduce friction and turn chaotic shopping journeys into confident decisions—online and in-store.

Gen AI: The New Holiday Helper
A big part of this year’s story is generative AI. What felt like a novelty tool in last year’s holiday planning has quietly turned into a mainstream assistant.

According to Accenture, 46% of U.S. shoppers say they plan to use conversational or generative AI tools to help them shop this season, and 66% have used GenAI in the last three months—up from just 39% a year ago. Other surveys show a similar pattern: roughly two-thirds of consumers now say they’re open to using AI to research products and find deals.

For retailers, that has two clear implications:

1. AI is already part of the shopping journey.
   Many customers will consult a chatbot before they ever see a banner ad, Sunday insert or morning-drive radio spot.
2. AI needs content to work with.
   These tools function best when brand information is structured, clear and consistent: product attributes, local inventory, store services, return policies, event calendars and pricing.

That’s where local media and agencies come in.

Instead of thinking of AI as “another competitor for attention,” treat it as a new distribution layer for your clients’ stories. Media partners can help retailers:

• Turn circulars and ad copy into structured product feeds and Q A content that AI tools can use.
• Build “holiday helper” guides—gift lists, bundle ideas, “under $50” collections—that double as both editorial and AI-friendly content.
• Align campaigns around a single simplifying promise: we’ll help you decide, not just we’ll give you 30% off.

When shoppers are overwhelmed, the most valuable marketing asset is not another discount. It’s clarity.

Deck the Malls, Not Just the Homepages
The AI story, however, is only half of the picture. If anything, the more digital the shopping journey becomes, the more important the store feels.

Physical locations have quietly reclaimed their role as stress relievers and decision engines. Four in ten consumers say they are turning to brick-and-mortar as places to get clarity, touch the product and talk to a human being before they buy. (Accenture’s research notes that 70% of retailers plan to hire more frontline staff this season, a sign they see in-store service as a competitive lever.

Leading brands are redesigning stores accordingly:

• Rituals has created “Mind Oasis” and spa concepts in select locations, turning a beauty purchase into a mini wellness retreat.
• Canada Goose invites shoppers into “Cold Rooms,” where they can test parkas in sub-freezing temperatures before deciding which one justifies a four-figure price tag.
• Casper has opened “Dreamery” and “Sleep Shop” concepts where customers can book naps, talk to “sleep specialists” and test products in carefully designed, calming spaces.

This is experiential retail, but not in the gimmicky, Instagram-wall sense. It’s experience as decision support. The store isn’t just a place to transact; it’s the last mile of confidence.

For local media, that’s an invitation to change the creative brief. Instead of promoting “40% Off Sitewide,” think in terms of:

• “Come try it, then decide.” Highlight demo areas, tasting stations, fit labs, test-drive events and “ask the expert” days.
• “We’ll simplify your list.” Promote in-store stylists, gift-wrapping counters, “concierge” desks and staff who specialize in certain categories.
• “Take a breath.” Lean into ambience—music, décor, kids’ corners, coffee carts—and position the store as a respite from noisy feeds and crowded inboxes.

Radio, TV, newspapers, local magazines and digital publishers are uniquely good at telling that story: the tone of the place, the people on the floor, the feeling of being “taken care of.” AI can recommend a coat; your client’s store can make someone feel good about buying it.

Smaller, Closer, More Local
The big-box era is not over, but it is being supplemented by a new wave of formats that feel distinctly local.

Ikea, long synonymous with giant blue warehouses on the edge of town, is now rolling out a variety of “IKEA shops” and urban stores—smaller, tightly curated locations closer to where people live, work and commute. In London, the company has opened a compact Oxford Street store with scan-and-go checkout and city-sized room sets. In the U.S., it’s testing shop-in-shop concepts inside Best Buy stores in Florida and Texas, some of which double as pick-up points for online orders.

At the district level, shopping centers are also reinventing themselves. London’s Brunswick Centre, for example, blends retail with events such as botanical days, farmers’ markets, art workshops and seasonal festivals—drawing visitors for experiences that go well beyond the purchase itself.

For local media sellers, these shifts are a gift:

• More openings and remodels to announce. Every new store format or refreshed center is a news story as much as an ad.
• More event calendars to promote. Markets, workshops and concerts provide hooks for sponsorships, live reads and branded content.
• More granular targeting. Smaller footprints and localized assortments mean the right messaging changes by neighborhood, not just by DMA.

This is where local media earn their keep—by helping retailers match message to micro-market.

BOPIS, Returns and the Omnichannel “Handshake”
The other quiet hero of this holiday season is the humble store counter.

Buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS), same-day pickup, curbside handoff and hassle-free returns have shifted stores from cost centers to omnichannel switchboards. Adobe Analytics expects U.S. online holiday sales to reach $253.4 billion this year, with AI-assisted shopping and flexible payment options driving much of the growth. But even the most digital of journeys often end with a local handoff: a customer walking into a store to grab a package or resolve an issue.

Smart retailers are using these visits as second chances—opportunities to:

• Show complementary products at pickup counters.
• Offer “while you’re here” services: quick repairs, sizing checks, upgrades.
• Turn returns into exchanges with gentle guidance rather than hard selling.

Local media and agencies can help by reframing BOPIS and returns in their creative:

• Promote “Order now, pick up today” messages that emphasize certainty and convenience, especially in last-minute windows.
• Run campaigns that explicitly talk about “no-hassle returns” and “we’ll make it right,” to reduce purchase anxiety.
• Use radio and OTT to push real-time messages during weather events, traffic snarls or shipping delays, positioning local stores as the reliable fallback.

In a season when packages may or may not arrive on time, reassuring customers that there’s a nearby place—and a familiar brand voice—ready to help can be the difference between a cart abandoned and a customer gained.

What Local Sellers Should Be Pitching Now
All of this rolls up into a simple mandate for local media and agencies: sell confidence, not clutter.

Here are four practical angles to build into your next holiday proposal or CNA:

1. “We’ll simplify the season for your customers.”
   Build campaigns around curation: top-five lists, neighborhood gift guides, “ask the expert” segments, live call-ins and social Q As featuring store staff.
2. “We’ll connect your AI presence to your human presence.”
   Help retailers align what AI says (hours, inventory, policies, key messages) with what real people experience in store. Use your platforms to reinforce the same promise.
3. “We’ll turn your store into a local event.”
   Tie media schedules to in-store happenings: Santa visits, tasting nights, kids’ craft tables, charity drives. Sell integrated packages—spots, social, email, OTT—that treat the store like a community stage.
4. “We’ll measure what matters.”
   Encourage retailers to track not just sales, but foot traffic during promoted events, BOPIS volume, redemption of specific offers and dwell time around featured areas. Bring your own analytics to the table to show lift.

As Peter Drucker famously noted, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” This holiday season, the twist is that the customer may be walking into the interaction already exhausted.

Your job, as a local media or agency partner, is to be the calm voice in the room—the one who says: Let’s make this easier. For you and for them.

Memory-Making Season, Not Just Sales Season
For all the talk of AI, formats and fulfillment methods, the underlying motivation hasn’t changed much since department stores first strung lights in their windows. People still want to treat themselves and the people they love. They still want to wander through decorated streets, hear familiar songs and feel, if only for a moment, that the world is a little kinder than the headlines suggest.

That’s why so many shoppers will keep visiting bricks-and-mortar stores this year—not just to buy, but to connect, to be inspired and to soak up the festive ambience. Retailers who lean into that desire—and media partners who help them tell that story—won’t just capture short-term sales. They’ll create memories that carry their brands into the new year.

For local media sellers and agencies, that’s the real opportunity: to turn holiday advertising from a shouting match into a service. Help shoppers find real value, online and off. Help stores feel more human in a digital age. And remind your clients that the best campaigns don’t just move product; they make the season itself feel a little more worth celebrating.
Source: CXDive, Accenture