Marketplace · Monday, September 28, 2026
Adobe predicts online holiday sales will reach $275 billion this year, a nearly 7% increase from the previous year. Despite high fuel prices and household finance pressures, consumer spending on discretionary items like foreign travel, vehicles, and dining out remains resilient. Retailers face challenges managing increased shipping costs and deciding whether to pass these onto consumers, with potential discounts of up to 30% expected online.
“Online sales in this country, Adobe figures, are going to hit $275 billion dollars this year. That's up almost 7% from a year ago.”
“Discretionary categories still remain strong. The thing that's really surprising is how resilient spending has been in categories that should be really sensitive to high fuel prices.”
“The cost of goods and shipping is higher and the issue is, retailers will have to decide, do they pass those costs onto consumers? If they're selling something that's extremely price competitive, it's harder for them to do that.”
“The stakes are very high for these retailers to capitalize on these holiday season sales, to take advantage of the stronger propensity on the part of the consumer. What we're really thinking is that the pricing piece, the shipping piece, all that is going to be very important for the consumer.”