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Endear Holiday Shopper Analysis Reveals What Turns Seasonal Shoppers Into Long-Term Customers
63% of shoppers are more likely to return after associate follow-up, highlighting a major opportunity for retailers beyond the holiday season
NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — U.S. holiday retail sales surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, and NRF expects above-average retail growth this year. As retailers head into the busiest shopping season, the opportunity extends well beyond the holiday transactions.
Researchfrom retail CRM leader Endear finds nearly two-thirds of consumers are more likely to return to a store when an associate follows up with them personally, and more than half have made an additional purchase as a result of associate follow-up. To help retailers better understand and maximize these touch points, Endear is releasing findings from the 2026 Holiday Shopper Analysis, which combines consumer research, holiday retail performance data and insights from leading brands to reveal what shoppers want from store associates — and what brings them back.
“Retailers have historically measured holiday success by what happens between Black Friday and the end of December, but the real measure is how many of those shoppers come back,” said Leigh Sevin, co-founder and CEO of Endear. “The first purchase is only part of the opportunity. When associates understand who their customers are and have the tools to follow up in a personal, relevant way, a holiday transaction can become the beginning of a much longer relationship.”
Endear analyzed more than 100 million SMS messages and 2.2 million clienteling interactions during Black Friday week 2025, and found that customers who received tailored outreach from store associates were 30x more likely to make a purchase than those receiving traditional marketing emails or SMS blasts. Clienteling-driven revenue also increased 22% year-over-year.
The report identifies several ways retailers can turn holiday interactions into longer-term customer relationships:
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Treat every holiday shopper as a future customer. Capture the information and preferences associates need to continue the relationship after the initial purchase, rather than treating the holiday transaction as a one-time event.
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Make outreach feel human, even at scale.Use customer history, preferences and past interactions to personalize follow-up, while tappingAI-powered tools to help associates identify who to reach out to, what to say and when. This gives store teams more time to focus on the personal interactions that build customer relationships.
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Give associates a reason to reach out. Equip store teams with relevant, timely ways to reconnect, from personalized gift recommendations and new arrivals to product follow-ups, instead of relying on generic promotional messages.
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Build the next purchase into the holiday strategy. Plan post-purchase outreach before the holiday rush begins, giving associates a clear path to reconnect with first-time and seasonal shoppers after the initial transaction and into the new year.
