Holiday advertising campaigns in 2026 may require more than a broad seasonal message, as new research from SalesFuel’s AdMall AudienceSCAN identifies distinct shopping behaviors and media preferences across five major U.S. retail occasions. The findings highlight differences among Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Super Saturday, and Christmas Eve shoppers, offering advertising sales teams data to shape audience targeting and media recommendations.
The research positions audience intelligence as a tool for helping local and regional businesses compete during the holiday shopping period. Rather than treating holiday consumers as one broad segment, AudienceSCAN examines their shopping habits, purchasing motivations, household incomes, and responses to different advertising channels.
For advertisers and media agencies, the findings provide a basis for aligning campaign messages with specific shopping occasions. Streaming television and social advertising feature prominently across several groups, while search advertising has a stronger role among Cyber Monday shoppers.
Black Friday and Small Business Saturday Favor Streaming and Social
According to AudienceSCAN, 22% of U.S. adults identify as in-store Black Friday shoppers. Among this audience, 49% respond to streaming TV advertising and 48% respond to social network advertising. The research also reports that 29% have household incomes above $150,000.
Small Business Saturday presents a different commercial opportunity. Seventeen percent of U.S. adults say they patronize local businesses or restaurants on the occasion. Streaming TV and social advertising again lead, with 48% of this audience responding to each channel.
The local discovery element is also notable. Twenty-three percent of Small Business Saturday shoppers say local media helps them discover newly opened businesses. AudienceSCAN reports that 32.5% of this group have household incomes above $150,000.
For local advertisers, these findings could help agencies build campaigns around community visibility, retail discovery, and premium consumer segments rather than relying exclusively on national discount messaging.
Cyber Monday Shoppers Show Omnichannel Behavior
Cyber Monday attracts a broader digital shopping audience, with 25% of U.S. adults saying they shop on the occasion.
The research identifies social networks and search results pages as equally influential advertising channels, with 41% of shoppers responding to each. Mobile applications also offer a potential touchpoint, with 16% saying mobile app advertising is useful to them.
Purchasing behavior extends beyond online checkout. AudienceSCAN reports that 51% of Cyber Monday shoppers purchased something online during the previous month for in-store or curbside pickup.
This combination of digital discovery and physical fulfillment creates opportunities for advertisers to coordinate search, social, mobile, and local retail messaging. It also reinforces the importance of connecting campaign exposure with the channels through which consumers ultimately complete purchases.
The announcement references AI-powered shopping tools as an emerging part of the consumer journey, although it does not provide specific figures on AI-assisted product discovery in the AudienceSCAN findings.
Super Saturday and Christmas Eve Create Last-Minute Opportunities
Super Saturday, scheduled for December 19, is relevant to retailers targeting consumers who shop closer to Christmas. Twelve percent of U.S. adults say they plan to shop on the occasion.
Streaming TV and social network advertising each receive a 52% response rate among this group. Promotional messaging also matters: 21% say coupons influence their purchase decisions, while 31% make an effort to buy American whenever possible.
Christmas Eve shoppers display similarly strong responses to streaming and social advertising. Seventeen percent of U.S. adults say they will shop on December 24, with 51% responding to streaming TV ads and 50% to social network advertising.
The research also indicates that 46% of Christmas Eve shoppers visit the website or use the app of a local television station. This suggests an opportunity for local media businesses to connect digital discovery with time-sensitive retail promotions.
Market Landscape: Audience Intelligence Shapes Local Advertising Sales
The findings reflect a broader need for more precise audience segmentation as advertisers distribute budgets across streaming, social, search, mobile, and local media.
For smaller businesses, competing with national retailers on advertising expenditure can be difficult. Audience intelligence platforms can help media sellers build more specific proposals by identifying consumer groups, preferred channels, and purchase motivations.
AdMall’s AudienceSCAN data is intended to support that process by giving advertising sales professionals information they can use in client conversations. The announcement does not disclose new platform features, campaign activation integrations, or independent evidence that using the research improves advertising performance.
Strategic Outlook: Sell the Shopping Occasion, Not Just the Holiday
The commercial implication is that holiday advertising plans can become more effective when organized around consumer behavior rather than a single seasonal theme.
Black Friday offers opportunities for high-reach retail campaigns, while Small Business Saturday supports community-focused advertising. Cyber Monday favors coordinated search and social strategies. Super Saturday and Christmas Eve create openings for urgent promotions and last-minute purchase messaging.
For agencies and local media sellers, the challenge is translating audience research into channel plans that match each advertiser’s objectives. AudienceSCAN provides a framework for those conversations, but actual campaign results will depend on creative quality, targeting execution, inventory, and measurement.
Top Insights
- Black Friday: 49% of in-store shoppers respond to streaming TV advertising and 48% to social advertising.
- Small Business Saturday: 17% of U.S. adults patronize local businesses or restaurants on the occasion.
- Cyber Monday: Social and search advertising each receive a 41% response rate.
- Super Saturday: Streaming TV and social advertising each reach a 52% response rate among shoppers.
- Christmas Eve: 51% respond to streaming TV ads and 50% to social network advertising.
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