We compiled these trends from over 100 brands, comparing year-over-year data for the date range July 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025.
July 2025: Strong Engagement Meets Selective Spending
Consumer engagement remained strong throughout July, driven by high-impact retail events such as Prime Day, Fourth of July, and early back-to-school promotions. Website sessions increased 7.15% year-over-year, reflecting sustained brand visibility and consumer interest.
However, this uptick in traffic translated into only modest gains in orders (+1.49%) and overall demand (+3.61%), highlighting persistent conversion challenges that have characterized much of the year. The data suggests a consumer base that is active and engaged, yet increasingly selective in their purchasing behavior.
This cautious sentiment is echoed in the National Retail Federation’s July economic review, which notes that while consumer spending remains resilient, ongoing concerns around tariffs and inflation are dampening overall confidence. Consumers are browsing and participating in promotional events, but discretionary spending remains measured.
Despite these headwinds, ecommerce performance and promotional-driven retail sales continue to show strength. Brands appear to be successfully balancing value, convenience, and experience to capture consumer interest and drive engagement.
July 2025 Marketing Trends
Trend #1: Back-to-School Shopping in Full Swing
As the school year gets underway, back-to-school shopping remains active, with families continuing to make purchases well into August and September. While early shopping surged in July, many families will continue purchasing into September, driven by budget constraints and evolving needs.
Spending Trends Remain Steady
Total spending is projected to hold at $30.9 billion, with an average of $570 per student according to Deloitte. Families are prioritizing essentials, with clothing spend up 6%, while tech and supplies see modest declines. Economic pressures are prompting lower-income households to spend more, while higher-income families are scaling back.
Shopping Behavior
Although 67% of families began shopping early, many are continuing to buy as school starts. Consumers remain highly price-sensitive. Deloitte reports 75% of parents are willing to switch brands for better pricing, and 65% are shopping at more affordable retailers. Mass merchants lead, but department stores and local retailers are gaining ground. As school begins, retailers are seeing consumers shift from supplies to more discretionary purchases, like first day outfits and extracurricular gear.
Retailer Strategies
To capture late-season demand, retailers should:
- Extend Promotions through September
- Highlight value and flexible payment options
- Use targeted messaging for late shoppers
- Leverage social and influencer content to drive engagement
Conclusion
Back-to-school shopping continues to be a major force in retail, reaffirming its role as a seasonal driver of consumer spending. As families gear up for the academic year, retailers benefit from a surge in demand across categories, making this period a critical touchpoint for engagement and growth.
Trend #2: Prime Day 2025: Record Sales and Early Holiday Signals
Amazon Prime Day 2025 set a new benchmark for summer retail, generating $24.1 billion in online sales across U.S. retailers—a 30% jump from last year. The four-day event (July 8–11) saw mobile shopping dominate, with over half of transactions made on phones.
Top-performing categories included:
- Kids’ apparel (+250%)
- Home security (+185%)
- School supplies (+175%)
According to NielsenIQ, Amazon’s daily order volume was 136% above average, with July 9 and 11 ranking among its top ten sales days ever. Shoppers browsed early and bought strategically, peaking on days two and four.
Forbes noted a dip in traffic and app usage, but purchase intent rose—48% of surveyed consumers made purchases, up from 38% in 2024. Competing sales at Walmart and Target also drew attention.
Looking ahead, analysts expect 2.5–3.5% growth in Q4 retail, with early spending potentially reducing holiday discounting.
Trend #3: 8 Actionable Tips to Supercharge Your Holiday Marketing Strategy
The Holiday season is quickly approaching, and with calendars packed and teams pulled in every direction, it’s easy to lose sight of the goals set earlier in the year. Now’s the perfect time to pause, reevaluate your strategy, and ensure your plans are optimized to perform.
Whether you’re finalizing print, digital, or omnichannel efforts, here are a few quick, actionable ways to sharpen your Holiday approach before it’s too late:
1.Segment Seasonal Buyers – Identify customers who typically purchase during the Holiday season. Prioritize them in your mail plan to improve reactivation and overall ROI.
2.Leverage Postal Retargeting – Reach out to high-intent website visitors with timely postcards, delivered within 48–72 hours of site activity. This proven tactic helps recover missed conversions.
3.Postal Promotions – Don’t leave money on the table! Work closely with your printer and/or USPS representative to take full advantage of available postal promotions. Starting in Q4, the USPS is offering a 10% postage discount on qualifying bound mail pieces of 12 pages or more—a significant savings opportunity during peak season.
4.Align Print and Digital – Ensure your catalog’s featured products and visuals are echoed across your website, email, and digital ads to deliver a consistent and compelling customer experience.
5.Lock In Your Press Time – Printer schedules are filling fast. Secure your production window now to avoid missing key Holiday drop dates.
6.Revisit Lapsed Buyers – Don’t overlook inactive customers—many re-engage during the Holidays. Tap into this group for potential incremental lift.
7.Reverse Email Append – Match email-only contacts to names and addresses using co-op databases to unlock new high-performing mail prospects.
8.Send a Last-Minute Postcard – Capitalize on the final shopping push with a cost-effective postcard targeting proven Q4 buyers in early December.
Small adjustments now can lead to big gains later. Let’s make this your most successful Holiday season yet!
Trend #4: Contribution: A Strategic Lens for Profitability
In business, few metrics offer as much strategic insight as contribution, also known as contribution margin. This key indicator enables brands to evaluate how individual products, customer segments, or marketing strategies impact overall profitability.
Contribution is calculated by subtracting variable costs from revenue. For example, a $100 order with $40 in variable costs generates a contribution of $60. This amount represents what remains to cover fixed costs and contribute to net profit.
Contribution=Revenue – Variable Costs
For marketers, contribution is especially valuable. It reveals which segments, campaigns, or products are driving profitability, offering clear visibility into what’s truly influencing financial performance.
Its utility extends across business functions. As highlighted in Harvard Business Review, contribution is particularly useful when evaluating whether to continue offering a product, adjusting pricing models, or restructuring sales incentives.
When expressed as a ratio, contribution margin shows the percentage of each sale that contributes to the business beyond covering variable costs. A higher margin indicates greater financial flexibility and stronger profitability, making it a critical metric for pricing, product prioritization, and resource allocation.
When considered alongside other financial indicators, contribution delivers critical insights that support sound decision-making. In essence, contribution is more than just a number, it’s a lens through which businesses can make smarter, more informed strategic decisions.
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Marketing KPIs: July 2025 Trends by Industry
Marketing KPIs: July 2025 Trends by Company Revenue
$100M+ | $15M-$100M | $0-$15M
Marketing KPIs: July 2025 Trends by Industry
Apparel Industry
In July, sessions increased by 8.95%, reflecting strong consumer interest and continued engagement with apparel brands. Orders rose 1.48%, showing modest improvement in conversion, while demand grew 1.45%, indicating steady market interest. These trends suggest that while traffic is strong, there’s still room to optimize conversion strategies and fully capitalize on rising engagement.
Home Brands
July sessions increased by 11.34%, reflecting strong consumer engagement with home brands. Orders surged 17.75%, showing a significant boost in conversion, while demand jumped 32.16%, indicating robust market interest and effective alignment between product offerings and consumer needs. These results point to strong momentum in the home category, driven by both increased traffic and improved sales performance.
Outdoor Brands
Outdoor brands saw a 11.80% increase in sessions, pointing to strong consumer interest and seasonal engagement. Orders rose 2.98%, showing modest gains in conversion, while demand climbed 5.66%, suggesting steady growth in shopper intent. While traffic is healthy, the gap between interest and conversion highlights an opportunity to sharpen merchandising and promotional strategies.
Specialty Retailers
In July, Specialty Retailers saw a slight dip in sessions (-1.44%), with orders down 5.82% and demand declining 6.94%. While performance softened, these results present an opportunity to re-engage core audiences through targeted campaigns and refreshed assortments. Despite declines, targeted campaigns and refreshed assortments can help re-engage audiences.
Marketing KPIs: July 2025 Trends by Company Revenue
Tier 1 Brands
Tier 1 brands showed strong performance in July, building on June’s momentum. Sessions grew +7.85% (vs. +7.24% in June), and orders increased +8.21%, nearly doubling June’s +4.13% growth.
Most notably, demand turned around sharply, moving from -5.11% in June to +10.28% in July, indicating stronger consumer spend and improved average order value.
The alignment across traffic, orders, and demand suggests a healthier conversion and increased purchase intent heading into late Q3.
Tier 2 Brands
Tier 2 brands showed strong traffic growth in July (+15.48%), though slightly below June’s +17.36%. Orders declined to -1.93% (vs. +5.53% in June), suggesting conversion softness despite elevated sessions. Demand improved to +4.76%, up from +1.76%, indicating stronger AOV even as order volume fell.
Focus should shift toward improving conversion efficiency to better capitalize on sustained traffic gains.
Tier 3 Brands
Tier 3 brands saw steady traffic growth in July (+6.42%), slightly above June’s +5.35%, indicating consistent user engagement. Orders declined further to -3.05% (vs. -1.88% in June), pointing to ongoing conversion challenges. Demand jumped to +9.76%, up from +4.55%, suggesting higher AOV or stronger spend among buyers.
Focus should be on improving conversion efficiency to better capitalize on growing traffic and higher-value transactions.