Toby Boon, Head of Client Strategy, Are Media
We are officially in it. November. The month when Christmas stops being a plan and becomes a deadline. The month when discounts get louder, countdown clocks multiply and every marketer leans harder on retargeting and promotions. The November sales wave is here, and many of us are being swept along with the with tide.
But here’s the catch. Consumers are not chasing deals. They are chasing confidence.
The data backs this up. By late November, more than half of shoppers say they plan to have most of their Christmas shopping done. They have bookmarked gift ideas, saved posts, compared prices and quietly decided what they want.
They do not need more choice. They need someone to help them choose. And here’s what complicates the picture even further: a significant portion of that choosing is for themselves.
So in light of the Christmas countdown, here are a few key consumer considerations to remember when it comes to selling more in the coming weeks.
The self-gifting paradox that breaks the discount cycle
A significant portion of Christmas shopping is people buying for themselves. Self-gifting is no longer a secret shame, but a legitimate shopping strategy. And when people self-gift, they’re not looking for the cheapest option. They’re looking for permission to indulge.
And although Singles Day (11/11) is gaining visibility in Australia as a moment to embrace the “treat yourself” mentality, with both Myer and David Jones running promotions, it has yet to reach mass awareness.
The relentless discount cycle has trained consumers to wait – to hold off until Black Friday, until the next flash sale. But self-gifting operates on a different emotional frequency. It’s about desire, reward, and treating yourself during (and after) an exhausting season.
When someone buys themselves that handbag or those headphones they’ve been eyeing all year, they don’t need another 20% off code. They need reassurance that this is the right choice. That they deserve it. That it’s worth it.
The brands that win self-gifting moments aren’t screaming “SALE” – they’re making people feel good about saying yes to themselves. Premium positioning, editorial validation, and trusted recommendations convert self-gifters far better than another discount email. The discount cycle creates hesitation. Confidence creates conversion.
The multigenerational shopping reality no one talks about
But self-gifting is only part of the story. Christmas shopping is also a complex group project with distinct generational roles.
Gen Z and Millennials are the curators – building wish lists, researching reviews, creating the shortlist. They’re the influencers within their own families.
But Gen X and Boomers? They’re the patrons, not just participants. They’re approving the big purchases, holding the purse strings, and often have the final say. Around one third of purchasing decisions involve this dynamic: younger generations research and recommend, older generations review and buy.
And both generations are also self-gifting simultaneously. While Boomers fund family purchases, they’re treating themselves to premium experiences. Gen Z and Millennials make smaller, more frequent self-purchases – the reward for getting through another week of Christmas planning.
Different generations. Different media habits. The same need for confidence. The question for marketers: are you showing up in environments that serve both the influencer and the influenced, the gifter and the self-gifter?
Why trusted media matters
This shift toward confidence over choice mirrors broader consumer behavior. Recent insights from Deloitte show that Australian households now subscribe to more streaming and digital services than ever before, but are spending less time using them. People are becoming deliberate. They are curating. They are filtering. We are choosing quality over quantity, paradoxically subscribing to more platforms just to find that quality.
When faced with overwhelming choice in entertainment, consumers gravitate toward trusted recommendations and curated content. The same pattern applies to shopping, especially during Christmas.
Trust lives in credible, curated environments where content is selected and reviewed by people who know the category. In a world of infinite choice, curation is not a luxury. It is a service.
Gen Z consumes the most social content; Boomers consume the most premium media and broadcast. The channel shifts. The emotional need does not. Premium publishers can help you show up in environments that service both generations – meeting the younger curator where they discover, and the older patron where they decide.
Christmas is an emotional pressure cooker dressed in fairy lights, where every purchase carries doubt. Will they like it? Should I spend this much? Do I deserve to treat myself?
The brand that eases that emotional load wins. Whether through expert-led gift guides or editorial partnerships that explain value instead of broadcasting price, these signals lower stress and tell the shopper: I have done the work, you can trust this.
For self-gifting especially, a trusted recommendation isn’t just helpful – it’s the permission slip that transforms “I shouldn’t” into “I should.”
You don’t win Christmas by shouting louder
Right now, consumers aren’t browsing – they’re in the final sprint. The window between interest and purchase is at its shortest point of the year. This is the time to:
Make content the gateway to commerce – Explain why something is worth buying, not just what it costs.
Remove friction and uncertainty – Guide the curator building the list, reassure the spend, give the self-gifter permission to buy and recognise a purchase may involve multiple generations – all of who are seeking validation in some shape or form.
Break free from the discount cycle – If your only value proposition is price, you’ve trained people to wait. If it’s confidence, quality, and editorial validation, you’ve given them a reason to buy today.
The brands that will succeed over the coming weeks will be the ones who guide rather than pressure, curate instead of bombard, and help people finish their shopping rather than start again from scratch.
Being everywhere doesn’t equal being effective. Helpful content doesn’t interrupt the buying journey, it can accelerate it. So whether it’s buying for someone they love or finally saying yes to themselves, at the end of the day, the next few weeks is about making consumers feel confident they’ve made the right choice.
That’s how you’ll truly sleigh with consumers this Christmas.