Intuit Mailchimp Research Shows Smarter Marketing Strategies Drive Results During Peak Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday season creates some of the biggest opportunities of the year for marketers, along with some of the fiercest competition for customer attention. As promotions ramp up, knowing where to focus and how to stay relevant becomes increasingly challenging. A new report from Intuit Mailchimp, Breaking Through Peak Season Noise, shows how intelligent marketing, or using data with AI and automation, can help businesses make more informed decisions about what opportunities to pursue.

Developed by Intuit Mailchimp and Datalily, the report analyzed an aggregate of more than 44 billion emails and 83 million text messages sent globally with Mailchimp in 2025 during peak season, which spans Halloween through New Year’s Eve and includes some of the biggest shopping days of the year. During the period, Mailchimp customers added 516.8 million email contacts and 20.6 million SMS contacts, while customers with connected ecommerce stores recorded 7.5 million orders and more than $1.1 billion in gross revenue attributable to email and SMS campaigns. The research combines the scale of Mailchimp’s data with decades of expertise helping businesses understand what works in their marketing, revealing patterns and strategies businesses can consider throughout the season.

“Peak season is an opportunity to deepen customer connections,” says Jack Tam, SVP of Product and Engineering at Mailchimp. “The businesses that thrive use their own customer data to understand when people are ready to act, which messages matter, and where to focus next. This research helps marketers make those decisions with confidence and build customer relationships that endure long after the season ends.”

Intelligent marketing capitalizes on peak season engagement

The research highlights how breaking through peak season noise comes down to making smarter choices around targeting, timing, and channel strategy, helping brands find an edge during the most competitive marketing season of the year.

• More targeted messages saw higher order values. During Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM), emails using segmentation and personalization (dynamic content) saw 11% higher average order value than those that didn’t. Campaigns using abandoned cart content blocks also saw 36% higher open rates and 28% higher click rates, showing the potential of using customer data and automation to reach shoppers with more relevant messages.
• Email and SMS played different but complementary roles. Email sustained communication and drove more revenue overall, while SMS captured attention during high-intent, time-sensitive moments. At peak, SMS delivered up to 6x higher order rates than email and 3x higher revenue per message. Among Mailchimp customers using both channels during BFCM, SMS drove nearly 20% of their total combined ecommerce revenue. 

Mailchimp customer Gymwrap, the fitness brand founded by actor and entrepreneur Nicole Ari Parker, saw the impact firsthand after bringing its email and SMS marketing together in Mailchimp ahead of peak season. Its first full SMS campaign through Mailchimp generated 142x ROI, helping establish SMS as a critical channel for the brand.

• Generative AI emails saw stronger performance. During peak season, 450 million emails used generative AI. Emails using the feature saw a 50% higher order rate and 33% higher conversion rate than those sent without it, pointing to the potential of AI to help marketers create content that performs.
• Lower-volume days revealed overlooked opportunities. Weekend order rates were 2x higher than weekday rates, even though brands sent roughly 60% fewer messages on weekends. Around BFCM, shoulder days also drove stronger engagement, while the Sunday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw 59% fewer emails and 82% fewer text messages than Black Friday.

Opportunities extend beyond the holidays

The data showed significant audience growth and first-time buyer activity during peak season. Mailchimp customers added more than 500 million contacts during the period, with email contact additions increasing heading into Black Friday Cyber Monday and SMS opt-ins rising sharply immediately before Black Friday. First-time buyers accounted for a substantial share of BFCM orders, representing 59% of email orders and nearly 70% of SMS orders. They also spent more per order than repeat customers, with average order values 21% higher via email and 39% higher via SMS.