Endear Reveals How Retailers Can Retain 70% of Holiday Shoppers

Post Holiday Playbook offers practical steps to retain shoppers, boost repeat sales, and build loyalty 

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 202 million consumers shopped during the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday 2025, a record, according to data from the National Retail Federation. But while foot traffic surged, retailers face a costly challenge - up to 70% of seasonal shoppers may be lost by spring. That's why today, Endear, the retail CRM for modern brands, is releasing the Endear Post Holiday Playbook, a data-backed guide designed to help brands turn seasonal shoppers into long-term customers.

Drawing on more than 100 million SMS messages and 2.2 million clienteling interactions sent during Black Friday week 2025, Endear found that personalized, two-way communication drives results far beyond traditional marketing. In fact, customers who received tailored outreach from store associates directly or via personalized messages were 30 times more likely to make a purchase than those receiving marketing emails or SMS blasts. These efforts contributed to a 22% year-over-year increase in clienteling-driven revenue.

"The biggest mistake in retail is treating the holiday season as a finish line," said Leigh Sevin, co-founder of Endear. "The real opportunity begins after the sale - turning seasonal shoppers into lifetime customers. The retailers who focus on strategic, 1:1 outreach, including personalized messages, thoughtful returns strategies, and ongoing engagement, are more likely to see long-term growth beyond the holiday season."

Endear's playbook recommends:

• Segment and Prioritize Customers: Group shoppers into first-timers, VIPs, high-value, and one-time buyers for targeted outreach.
• Leverage Returns as Touchpoints: Encourage exchanges over refunds, simplify policies, and follow up on returns to drive repeat purchases.
• Personalized Follow-Ups: Check in with shoppers about recent purchases and schedule ongoing touchpoints to maintain connection.
• Track and Optimize: Monitor responses, sales, and engagement metrics to continually refine outreach.

As the holiday shopping rush grows increasingly competitive, brands that focus on relationship-driven retail stand to gain the most. With thousands of stores using Endear and over $1 billion in attributed sales, store-led clienteling has become a defining factor in retail success.

"Managing post-holiday outreach used to be chaotic, but Endear makes it simple to segment customers, follow up, and actually see which actions drive repeat purchases," said James Bishop, Director of Retail, AG Adriano Goldschmied, Inc. "Endear has helped us turn our store locations  into successful sales channels, while maximizing holiday shopping traffic after the season."

To download the Endear Post Holiday Playbook and see how strategic clienteling drives repeat purchases, visit https://endearhq.com/post-holiday-retention-playbook.

About Endear

Endear is the retail CRM for modern brands that want to build more meaningful customer relationships that drive real results. Designed for growing mid-sized brands, Endear empowers store teams with unified customer profiles backed by real-time data, seamless integrations, and AI-powered tools that make clienteling scalable and effective. By streamlining outreach across channels like text, email, and WhatsApp, Endear helps deliver personalized, high-impact customer experiences that increase foot traffic and boost sales. By making every engagement trackable and actionable, Endear is redefining retail ROI so every store becomes a performance channel and every interaction becomes an opportunity for growth. For more information, visit https://endearhq.com/.

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SOURCE Endear