How kids’ apparel brands plan to woo budget-conscious parents during a critical holiday season

Primary, a kids’ clothing brand now in its 10th year, will be promoting seasonal drops like cozy fleece-lined leggings and plans to offer big promotions like free shipping for a year. It’s anticipating a boost in sales on practical items; Primary’s puffer jackets, for instance, are expected to generate 25% more revenue than last year alone.

“We definitely recognize everything that’s going on in the macro environment, and that means many things,” said Primary co-founder Christina Carbonell. “People are looking for value more than ever, and it’s a time to deliver value.”

PwC’s 2025 Holiday Outlook Survey shows that consumers expect their seasonal spending to drop by about 5% compared to last year, spending an average of $1,552 per person. When it comes to what they’re spending on, though, apparel is a major category. Adobe projects clothing spending to hit $47.6 billion this season, making it the second biggest category by overall dollar figures after electronics.

Going by prior years’ behaviors, clothing is the most popular buying and gifting category overall. The National Retail Federation found last year that 49% of people who shopped Black Friday through Cyber Monday bought clothes and accessories.

Parents, in particular, use the holiday shopping season as a moment to stock up on clothing for growing kids. Alison Peterson, evp and chief retail and digital officer at Carter’s, said holiday is the busiest time of year for the 160-year-old brand. Weekly traffic doubles both online and in-store in November and December, and triples during Black Friday. 

Given the macro environment, though, Peterson said shoppers may be more cautious with their budgets this year. Carter’s is leaning into deals earlier and more often than usual. Carter’s promoted some deals like $5 shirts coinciding with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon’s October iteration of Prime Day that has become the unofficial start. Then, the following week, the brand rolled out a “Black Friday Preview” sale with as much as 60% off items. Next up, it is planning deals for Cyber Week, as well as promotions from OshKosh for its 130th anniversary.

“A customer that feels a little bit more financially challenged might really look to these events because they know from a psyche perspective that they’re going to get their best deal during that time frame,” she said. “We absolutely will be in those moments like never before.”

Primary bets on free shipping for a year

Primary, a kids’ apparel brand that did over $60 million in revenue last year, is once again rolling out its “free shipping for a year” promotion for the seventh year running. Customers who spend above a certain threshold, like $25, will get free shipping on any purchase of any amount for the rest of the year.

Primary co-founder Carbonell said the offering has become a tradition that especially resonates with repeat customers. What started as a day-long promotion on Cyber Monday now runs for the entirety of Cyber 5. ”Our customers love it, and it’s also a way to attract new customers,” she said. “It seems like it could be just a costly promotion, but it’s actually not. It’s something we’re willing to invest in with a customer who shops with us over time, and it does lead to loyalty.”

The promotion traditionally yields a 2.5X lift in sales during Cyber Weekend. Last year, the promo reached around 40,000 customers, who then placed anywhere from 35-60% more orders than those without the offer. 

Primary isn’t alone in wanting to offer more rewards to its best customers. Samantha Gold, founder of children’s brand Motette, plans to offer additional promotions during the holiday season to members of Motette’s “Inner Circle,” which is a loyalty program she runs via Instagram’s Close Friends option. The company recently rolled out matching sets for moms and kids, which will be on sale for buy-one, get-one half-off — but Inner Circle members who buy a women’s pair of pajamas will get a children’s set for free, a value of $44.

Practical products & fun shopping experiences

Beyond the deals themselves, Gold said she wanted to ensure her holiday offerings could appeal to parents regardless of the time of year. Rather than Christmas trees or Santas, the brand’s bamboo fabric patterns include deep evergreen stripes, strings of antique-looking pomegranate chains or a cheery holly trellis.

“It doesn’t scream holiday, which limits that selling window,” Gold said. “I’m taking into consideration the environment where the customer wants to be able to wear this for life — and I can have it beyond the holiday period if all the inventory that I invest in doesn’t sell.”

Peterson said Carter’s, meanwhile, is using the holiday season to pilot a new store format called “Carter’s Style Stores” in six markets: Alpharetta, Georgia; Schaumburg, Illinois; Frisco, Texas; Stoneham, Massachusetts; Freehold, New ​Jersey; and Tustin, California. These stores have the first access to new collections from Carter’s organic line, Little Planet, as well as Otter Avenue, a brand it launched this summer aimed at toddlers. The stores will also offer a weekly custom embroidery and monogramming event, plus “DIY Days with KiwiCo,” a monthly craft workshop set to be held on the second Saturday of each month for the rest of the year. 

Peterson said the company’s pilot aims to appeal to Gen Z, who make up two-thirds of expecting parents. Carter’s research shows that, out of those customers, 80% are going to shop in-store this holiday and spend three times more in-store versus online, she said.

“We’re tailoring the experience to meet the needs of that local customer — more branded in nature, more visually stimulating and filled more fun moments,” she said. “We believe if we move from transactional to relational, we can ease the minds of consumers and build confidence in their ability to purchase the perfect gift.”