By Marcelo Núñez, Intuit Mailchimp Spain

The key to effectively reaching holiday shoppers is to understand where consumers are physically, emotionally and culturally. Our latest study offers a comprehensive view of these motivations, and practical strategies for connecting with shoppers.

The retail calendar in Spain is not a sprint, but a sequence of culturally charged moments, as described in the new e-commerce calendar published a few months ago. The Holiday Shopping Uncovered study examines these dates and focuses on the Christmas campaign, identifying seven phases of behavior, each driven by distinct emotions and purchase intentions. For Spanish retailers, these phases align with local sales peaks and therefore require phase-specific automation, rather than a broad discounting campaign.

Our data shows that cultural dates dominate in Spain: Three Kings Day has the highest propensity to spend (77%), followed by Christmas (73%) and Christmas Eve (53%). October is increasingly important globally, with 43% of shoppers making at least one purchase linked to a particular time in that month, while mid-November and the run-up to Christmas are critical peaks for conversions.

More thoughtful marketing, backed by automation tools with artificial intelligence, allows brands to reach shoppers where they really are, in the moment and in their culture. A single Black Friday-related email may attract bargain hunters, but it leaves out people who plan around dates like Three Kings Day or Christmas Eve. In Spain, the Christmas campaign starts earlier and is divided into emotion-driven phases: a discovery period in October, a delivery-driven sprint in mid-December, and a January window in which many shop for themselves. Applying automation to these phases, and not just discounts, turns one-off shipments into personalized journeys that generate conversions and build loyalty.

Taking into account Mailchimp's Holiday Shopping Uncovered study and in the new e-commerce calendar, here are five actions that Spanish e-commerce teams should prioritize this holiday season:

• Adopt a phased approach. Design automated customer journeys for each phase of the holiday campaign, so that messages evolve as their purchase intent evolves.
• Localize around important cultural dates. Create specific landing pages and collections for occasions such as Three Kings Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
• Capture intent early and personalize. Ask a simple question in your funnel and direct shoppers to paths focused on gifts for others or purchases for self, so that copy and offers match their motivation.
• Automate operational communication. Last-minute shoppers are often concerned about delivery times: automate shipping deadline alerts, stock alerts and post-purchase updates to set expectations and reduce cart abandonment.
• Test at key times. Experiment in the discovery phase in October and the mid-December sales peak (with different creative, offers, last-minute formats) and scale what works, rather than concentrating spend on a single shopping weekend.

The key to effectively reaching holiday shoppers is to understand where consumers are physically, emotionally and culturally. In Spain, shoppers follow a very defined cultural calendar, so your email should orchestrate automated journeys targeted to those moments. When brands align emotionally and operationally with those local moments, they gain attention, trust and lasting loyalty.