Marketers tend to wrap up their holiday planning well before summer ends, and no surprise: Nearly 20% of U.S. retail sales happen in November and December, with even higher shares in categories like apparel, toys, home goods, and electronics.
This year, streaming stands to capture a greater share of consumer attention and ad spend than it has in the past. Our survey of Roku holiday shoppers breaks down holiday streaming and purchasing behaviors — revealing how advertisers can maximize performance during the all-important year-end period.
Here, we offer a month-to-month guide to help you win every phase of the season, from pre-holiday planning all the way through “Q5.”
October: Use streaming ads to help shoppers find deals
Holiday shopping starts well before Black Friday. According to our survey, 67% of Roku holiday shoppers will make their first purchases before Thanksgiving, and 41% plan to start as early as October.
These streamers don’t just shop early; they get in the spirit early too. The holiday period is Roku's peak viewership season as streamers co-view holiday titles to make the most of their downtime. Holiday title searches on Roku jump 28% week-over-week in early October, and surge 51% the week after Halloween. (Let’s face it, it’s never too early to watch Elf.)
The 2025 season presents a heightened opportunity to reach viewers with holiday sales. With rising consumer costs, Roku shoppers are highly focused on finding the best deals. Nearly four in five (76%) Roku holiday shoppers agree sales and promotions will matter more this holiday season due to inflation. For these Roku shoppers, e-commerce will be huge. Nearly three quarters (73%) say they will shop online to get the best deals, and 80% say doing so will make shopping easier.
This deal-seeking mindset should inform marketers’ TV advertising strategies. In our survey, 41% of Roku holiday shoppers want to discover holiday promotions on their TV, and one in three wants to buy a range of holiday gifts directly from their TV. The five most mentioned product categories Roku shoppers would like to buy from the TV are technology and electronics; toys and games; books, movies, and media; home goods and décor; and apparel.
Takeaway: Roku sparks holiday joy with co-viewing moments that create prime opportunities for brands to connect and inspire purchases. To make the most of these opportunities, launch your streaming campaign well before the rush, and highlight cost savings. Aligning your messaging with early seasonal content can build momentum and lock in sales.
November: Peak shopping meets peak streaming
By November, holiday-related searches surge on average +42% week over week as consumers fully embrace festive content.
The biggest streaming moment of all? The Sunday before Cyber Monday. For the past four years, this day has consistently seen more streaming activity on Roku than any other day.
The surging holiday spirit is mirrored by consumer activity, as 60% of Roku streamers shopped on Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year.
This surge in streaming points to strong ad receptiveness.
- Over half of holiday viewers will seek out free holiday content with ads this Q4, according to our survey.
- 1 in 2 said they enjoy seeing holiday ads while watching holiday TV.
- 6 in 10 of the top-reaching Roku Channel programs during the 2024 holiday season were FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels.
Takeaway: This is the moment to go big. Capture attention when consumers are most engaged—and most ready to shop—with highly visible, festive, and brand-aligned CTV creative.
December: Double down to reach late shoppers
Holiday shopping doesn’t slow down after Cyber Monday; it ramps up.
While plenty of shoppers use the month to check final items off their lists, 11% of Roku streamers are last-minute shoppers, waiting until December to even get started.
While they have shopping on the brain, they’re streaming TV and movies. The five most-streamed weekends of 2024 all happened between Thanksgiving and Christmas. (In Q4 overall, Roku users streamed 34.1 billion hours in 2024, an 18% year-over-year increase.)
In December 2024:
- Streaming hours surged 17% compared to the yearly average.
- Holiday searches increased 78% during Christmas week alone.
- The weekend after Christmas was the most streamed weekend of the entire year.
By the end of Q4, seven in 10 of the top-searched Roku titles were holiday-themed, proving that viewers were still deeply immersed in the season—and primed for messages that match it.
Takeaway: Keep your campaigns running through December. Visibility during this high-volume, high-intent window can help drive critical conversions.
Q5: Extend your wins into the new year
The period following Christmas and extending into January often gets overlooked, but it’s a golden opportunity. Nearly two thirds (64%) of Roku holiday shoppers say they plan to continue shopping after the winter holidays.
- 86% take advantage of post-holiday sales
- 53% use gift cards
- 49% purchase items they didn’t receive (the gifts they actually wanted)
And they’re still tuned in: Daily streaming hours on Roku jumped 18% between Christmas and New Year’s, compared to the average day in 2024.
Takeaway: Extend your campaigns into January. Q5 is a prime window to convert high-intent shoppers and squeeze more value out of your holiday media spend.
5 reasons to choose Roku ads this holiday season
- Showcase your brand on the biggest screen in the home. Cut through the clutter of social feeds and show up where your audience is most engaged: on TV.
- Reach a massive, engaged audience. Roku reaches 125 million people—and they’re actively streaming during the moments that matter. Brands who reach this massive audience through Roku’s premium TV placements can ensure they’re not lost in a social media scroll.
- Make It Shoppable. One in three Roku holiday shoppers want to buy gifts directly from their TV, and they’re 30% more likely to engage with shoppable ads in Q4. Brands can tap into Roku’s commerce capabilities, delighting price-sensitive customers with seamless gift and deal discovery.
- Move Fast with Self-Serve. With Roku Ads Manager, launching a campaign is as easy and fast as setting up a social post.
- Target with Precision. Use advanced metrics and third-party audience data to reach exactly who you want, when it matters most.
Connect with Roku and hit your holiday goals
Contact a Roku rep to learn which holiday strategies make the most sense for your brand. Get involved in the biggest shopping time of the year—on America’s #1 TV platform.
Do you prefer to manage your streaming campaigns in-house? Check out our self-service guide to reaching holiday shoppers.
