Intuit Inc., the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, in partnership with behavioral insights practice Canvas8, released The New E-Commerce Calendar, a global report that explores how the traditional retail calendar is being reshaped. The report finds that 78% of the moments shaping customer behavior aren’t led by retail or price promotions. Instead, shopping unfolds in a rhythm of personal, cultural, and community-driven moments that span the entire calendar year. To help marketers meet these moments, The New E-Commerce Calendar draws from a survey of more than 9,000 shoppers across 13 countries, supplementing this data with expert insights from 6 retail and behavioral science experts.

Research indicates that 39% of shoppers worldwide are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sales and promotions, leading 25% to actively avoid shopping during major sales events.

Turning Overwhelm into Opportunity

The marketer’s calendar has transformed into a dynamic, year-round continuum shaped by culture and community. The end-of-year holiday season now accounts for just 10% of annual engagement opportunities. Brands navigate up to 15 retail, cultural, and religious moments each month. “Something’s celebrated every day if you look for it,” said Nancy Harhut, author of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing.

Research indicates that 39% of shoppers worldwide are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sales and promotions, leading 25% to actively avoid shopping during major sales events. This saturated promotional landscape presents both opportunities and challenges for brands. Navigating this environment requires careful consideration to determine the optimal timing and approach for engagement.

“Consumers want to buy from brands that make an effort to connect meaningfully year-round, not just during conventional shopping seasons,” said Mark Lodwick, Senior Director of Brand Experience at Intuit Mailchimp. “With insights from this report, marketers can identify when their target customers expect to engage and more confidently invest in the moments that are most likely to resonate.”

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Moments That Matter: A Shift in Shopper Mindset

The research identifies six categories of moments that make up the New E-Commerce Calendar — Sales Moments, Advocacy Moments, Celebratory Moments, Together Moments, Holiday Moments, and Entertainment Moments — and explores the emotional drivers and shopper missions behind each.

Key findings include:

• Sales Moments — those created and dominated by brands and retailers, like Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day—still drive engagement, but with nuance:
  • 76% of shoppers use Sales Moments to buy pre-planned items.
  • 72% are open to unplanned purchases if the right deal appears.

• Celebratory Moments like Valentine’s Day and Halloween have significant emotional resonance, with 54% and 39% of shoppers respectively making related purchases.
• Holiday Moments, or those that generally take place between November and the New Year, remain strong. But motivations have evolved: during the holiday season, price sensitivity drops by 38%, with shoppers prioritizing joy and tradition over cost consciousness.
• Entertainment Moments — think Eurovision, the World Cup, or the Super Bowl — prompted 15% of shoppers to make purchases in the last two years.

Each moment can be a powerful opportunity for a brand to drive growth and stand out in a crowded market. Finding the right combination—and understanding the leading motivations and emotional prompts associated with different moment types—is key to success.

The report also uncovers how these moments resonate differently across demographics and regions. Over half of parent shoppers (54%), for example, say making purchases during moments that include discounts is part of their regular routine, compared with just 45% of non-parents. Younger shoppers (18–34) are more likely to shop during Advocacy and Entertainment Moments but are also more likely to feel overwhelmed by promotions. An occasion like International Women’s Day is more than twice as likely to drive purchases among shoppers aged 18 to 34 (19%) than it is among shoppers aged 55 and older (8%). Meanwhile, older shoppers (55+) are more discerning about promotions—they are 22% more likely than younger cohorts to believe that the discounts offered during sales events are exaggerated.

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By approaching the calendar with greater intention and by centering the customer’s mission at each key moment, brands can build stronger loyalty, deeper emotional connections, and long-term growth.

A Global Snapshot

Preferences vary across countries and geographic regions, too. Globally, for example, loyalty reward perks have prompted a third (33%) of shoppers to make purchases in the last two years, but this rises to 43% amongst UK and Canada shoppers. Meanwhile, 49% of German shoppers tend to set themselves a fixed budget for holiday shopping, slightly outpacing the global average of 45%. In Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg), 66% of shoppers say they’re not worried about missing out on deals during Sales Moments—the highest of any region surveyed. And only 41% of Scandinavian shoppers (those in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway) say they have been influenced by discounts to make a purchase during Sales Moments—the lowest of all regions surveyed. The New E-Commerce Calendar unpacks these nuances and more by supplementing its full report with eight regional one-pagers, allowing marketers around the world to dive deeper into the preferences of their home and target markets.