Christmas by the numbers: what 2.8 billion ad impressions reveal about December

The 7 points in detail

From the outside, Black Friday and Christmas look alike: More advertisers compete for the same customers, ad prices rise, and the urge to buy is high. But the reason people buy is completely different. In November, customers hunt for the best price on something they want for themselves. In December, customers have to find something for another person and get it right.

That difference is at the heart of Confect's Christmas study. The analysis is based on catalog ads on Meta, also known as Dynamic Product Ads, from 1,332 webshops in December 2025. All figures are compared with an average month from January to October 2025, and Black Month has been left out of the comparison.

1. Do not cut the budget when ad prices rise

In December, CPM rises 21% because more advertisers bid on the same people. It is tempting to scale back, but the numbers point the other way. Customers click 15% more, convert 16% better and spend 9% more per order.

Put together, ROAS ends up 25% higher than in a normal month, and the cost per purchase actually falls slightly. December is also the second biggest month of the year for revenue from catalog ads, only surpassed by Black Month.

2. Trust beats discounts

Buying a gift is riskier than buying for yourself. Will it fit? Will it be well received? When uncertainty rises, customers look for something to trust, and this shows clearly in the ad data.

Ads with reviews and ratings go from performing 6% worse than average in a normal month to 18% better at Christmas. Discount elements still work, but they lose more than half their effect. Voucher codes are the exception and lift more at Christmas than at other times, because they give customers a concrete reason to buy from you specifically.

3. Small shops have the most to gain from trust

The big brands already have customers' trust. Smaller webshops have to show it in the ad. For advertisers with a smaller monthly Meta budget, ads with trust elements deliver 36% more return at Christmas. For mid-sized advertisers the figure is 16%, and for the largest 7%.

If you are a smaller webshop, this is one of the most obvious changes to make before December: Show your number of reviews, your score and any guarantees directly in the ad design.

4. Clear calls to action make a big difference

A clear call to action goes from a lift of 4% in a normal month to 29% at Christmas. Gift buyers have a list and a deadline, so tell them clearly what the next step is. Phrases like "Order by 20 December" work because the deadline comes from the calendar and not from a sale.

In retargeting, delivery information also lifts the return. The customer who added a product to the basket and left the site mainly wants to know one thing: Will the gift arrive before Christmas?

5. Industries win differently

Almost every industry gets a lift at Christmas, but not equally. Electronics lifts ROAS by 50%, food and drink by 33%, fashion by 27% and home by 26%. Sports stays more or less flat.

Sports is an interesting example. Here the conversion rate rises, but orders get smaller. When you buy sports gear for someone else, you choose the safe items without sizes, such as socks, gloves and water bottles. Webshops where the typical order is below 100 dollars generally get the biggest lift, so make sure your products in the gift price range are also in your ads.

6. Keep both new customers and repeat purchases going

Both ads aimed at new customers and retargeting lift the return by around 25% at Christmas. It is therefore not a good idea to move the entire budget to the people who already know you. Retargeting also faces the biggest price increase, because everyone else has the same idea.

Prospecting is the only place where your audience grows, and in December it is full of people with a gift list and nothing from you on it yet.

7. Launch new products in October, not December

Ads that mark products as new still perform well at Christmas, but the lift is roughly halved compared with a normal month. The weeks before Christmas are the most expensive time to get attention for something new. So launch in October, and sell the product as a gift in December.