While Black Friday traditionally marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, that pattern may change in 2026 as consumers are planning to make their biggest holiday shopping push a little later, according to research from Bank of America.
A market survey shows that 29% of consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping in early- to mid-December, up from 19% in 2025. Meanwhile, those planning to concentrate most of their shopping around Black Friday—which falls on November 27 this year—fell from 25% to 17%.
Nearly half of consumers (48%) expect to spend about the same this holiday season as last year – up from 39% in 2025, with 39% also saying they will spend less on holiday gifts this year – down from 42% in 2025. Meanwhile, only 12% plan to spend more, down from 19% last year.
“Consumers are being more deliberate this year, from setting their own timelines to staying focused on their budgets,” said Mary Hines Droesch, Head of Consumer and Small Business Products and Analytics at Bank of America. “At the same time, our Bank of America spending data shows the season is off to a healthy start.”
Those results came from the Bank of America 2026 Holiday Spending Survey, which was conducted online from September 10 to 12 by Ipsos and included replies from 2,062 adults age 18 or older.
In additional results, the report showed that consumers’ top strategies for avoiding overspending include:
- Shopping during sales events (30%)
- Setting a firm per-person spending limit (27%)
- Using credit card rewards, points, or cash back (21%)
But consumers also face security challenges since scammers are checking their lists, too, as 37% of consumers say they have encountered at least one holiday shopping scam tactic in recent years. The most common scams they see include:
- Phishing emails posing as retailers (18%)
- Fake shipping or delivery notifications (16%)
- Too good to be true deals on gifts or services (16%)
