Here’s how to get the most of holiday shopping with AI and credit card rewards

Between inflation, tariffs and overall economic uncertainty, American consumers are looking to get ahead during the 2025 holiday season. Whether it’s utilizing artificial intelligence or prioritizing group experiences over presents, here are some of the ways shoppers can maximize their spending.

Economic uncertainty

Fifty-two percent of consumers are “stressed” about their finances during the holiday season, according to a survey from credit reporting agency Experian. Meanwhile, 69% of consumers are concerned inflation will affect holiday shopping.

“At the same time, they’re telling us they’re spending,” Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy at Experian, told Straight Arrow News. “It’s that quandary we seem to have in our economy right now, things aren’t always very clear. They’re a little bit confusing sometimes. They’re telling us that they’re trying to find ways to save money.”

Core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — surged 3% in September 2025 compared to September 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency announced it would not release inflation data for October, because the government shutdown limited data collection.

Experian’s survey found 56% of American consumers set aside money for holiday gift-giving and 45% tightened their budget ahead of the season.

Saving money could be a tougher prospect than in years past due to the current trade environment.

“We might see slightly lower discounts, just because retailers are trying to balance their books with what’s going on with the tariffs,” smart shopping expert Trae Bodge told SAN. “We’re also going to see some lower inventory on some categories, because retailers did pull back in certain cases when they were placing their holiday orders.”

If current tariffs had been in place for the 2024 holiday season, consumers would have spent an additional $28.6 billion last year — about $132 per shopper, according to LendingTree.

Experiences for Christmas

A growing number of gift-givers are shifting to the idea of taking part in experiences rather than presents under the Christmas tree.

“Gen Z doesn’t want stuff,” Bodge told Straight Arrow News. “They don’t have room for it. Some of them are living with their parents as they’re trying to get their footing.”

Searches for Christmas lights events surged 56% in December 2024 compared to December 2023, according to global events marketplace Eventbrite.

“People are hungry for these [in real life] gatherings and are done with spending on material goods and merchandise,” Eventbrite trends expert Page Dudley told SAN. “They’re really excited to get back to the roots of holiday tradition and go out and experience these nostalgic holiday events.”

Eventbrite’s data found attendance at wine-related events and food events spiked 25% and 35%, respectively.

“People want to get together around food,” Dudley added. “And food and wine experiences were both up. These are just the classic holidays. If you’re to get together around the holidays, it’s going to be over food.”

Blair Soden Hanson has seen this shift firsthand as the founder of Pasta Party Charleston, a business focused on bringing a pasta-making class to clients’ homes. 

“You’re learning something with your friends, with your family, with your co-workers, that you can then take on and pass on to your family and friends and co-workers,” she said. “So it really does bring people together.”

Pasta Party Charleston has been a go-to event for bachelorette parties, but that specialization broadened recently.

“We did our first pasta party for a family last year,” Soden Hanson recounted. “It was two daughters who have a tradition. Every year they get a gift for their parents. They don’t include their husbands or their kids. This is just the daughters and their parents, and they surprised them with a pasta party over Christmas.

“It gave them something to look forward to after the holidays. It gave them a chance to come back together after the holidays, just the four of them, and have a great time together making pasta and getting a skill that then the daughters could take back to make pasta with their families together.”

The possibilities extend far beyond pasta. Eventbrite distributed tickets to nearly 5 million events last year. Airbnb is also dealing in experiences along with its bread and butter of short-term stays. Meanwhile, Groupon still offers customers opportunities to secure discounted experiences.

Artificial intelligence as a holiday helper

Ninety-seven percent of U.S. retailers will use AI to enhance consumers’ holiday shopping experience this year, according to FedEx’s 2025 Holiday Season E-commerce Trends Report.

“AI has already been part of our life,” Shira Lazar, host of the AI Download, told SAN. “We just started talking about it differently because of all these new tools popping up.

Implementing AI on the business side is one thing, but 63% of consumers say they are open to using AI — like ChatGPT — as their “holiday elf,” according to Experian.

“I would venture a guess that if I were to enter the right queries with an AI, they could probably tell me better than I could what the right gift is for my wife this year too,” Experian’s Griffin said. “Because I always seem to not get that quite perfect.”

In addition to providing gift suggestions, ChatGPT will also help users find where to pick up the gift. 

“And what’s really cool right now is that these tools will give you recommendations, including the link,” Lazar continued. “And then you could also ask it to do a price comparison for you, so you make sure you’re getting the best price.”

But experts like Lazar warn shoppers to use the generative intelligence they were born with to make the best decisions.

“I think the worry is that we have this trust in these tools to just give us all the right, perfect, honest information,” she said. “And that might not be the case. So again, I think the best thing is to do your own research, to play around with every tool, see what they say, and compare it yourself.”

Browse with a purpose

“Smart” shopping doesn’t require the use of AI. 

“Browser extensions are great,” smart shopping expert Trae Bodge said. “What they are is a tool that helps make your browser smarter. You install it on your computer. It’s free to do so. It takes a few seconds, and then as you’re browsing online, the browser extension will pop up with an alert, ‘Hey, there’s a cash-back offer here. There’s a coupon that you can click on. There’s a free shipping offer.’ So it’s basically doing homework for you.”

Browser extensions can be used to do everything from managing passwords to assisting with grammar, spelling and punctuation.

The Karma extension helps users compare prices, get coupons and even receive price alerts. Keepa tracks Amazon prices. And Rakuten’s extension promotes cash-back rewards at 3,500 stores, allowing users to stack rewards on top of credit card and merchant rewards.

Rewarding spending

In 2025, consumers are split on whether they will use cash, credit or a combination of both, according to Experian’s Griffin.

For some consumers, the holidays are an excellent excuse to maximize credit card rewards.

“I think that the holidays are a great time if you are in the right place financially and your spending is going to help you net a welcome bonus or a little stash of points and miles,” Daisy Hernandez, credit cards editor with The Points Guy, told SAN. “It’s a great time to open a card.”

Premium credit cards can have high annual fees and require massive spending to optimize rewards. While credit card rewards can offer the promise of future travel glory or cash-back benefits, restraint is important.

“Make sure you know how you’re going to spend, how you’re going to repay the debts you take on, and that will take a lot of stress out of the holiday season for you,” Griffin concluded.

The post Here’s how to get the most of holiday shopping with AI and credit card rewards appeared first on Straight Arrow News.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief