Inside The VCA Retail Spend Monitor And The 2025 Holiday Reset

Holiday spending climbs 4.2% Preliminary data from the VCA Retail Spend Monitor shows that overall U.S. holiday retail spending increased by 4.2% year over year across all payment types, including cash and checks.

These figures cover a seven-week period beginning November 1 and are not adjusted for inflation, giving a nominal view of consumer outlays. The monitor draws on a subset of U.S. Visa payment network data at retail merchants, complemented by survey-based estimates for other payment methods.

It excludes categories such as auto, gasoline, and restaurants, focusing on core retail activity. Stores still dominate, but e-commerce accelerates Despite growth in digital channels, in-person shopping remained the default choice for most consumers.

Visa reports that 73% of holiday payment volume occurred in physical stores, while 27% of retail spend happened online. At the same time, e-commerce continued to expand faster than overall spending…