Tessa Mullen is a junior behavioural analyst at Canvas8. She holds a BA in History from the University of Cambridge, and whilst there became interested in visual and material media, sound and cultural studies. Outside of work, she is a regular rock climber and enjoys listening to the radio.

In the turbulent economic environment, money is losing its value. People are reevaluating their spending across sectors. With a looming crisis of trust in financial institutions, how are people managing their budgets? And how can brands navigate the complex relationship between value and cost?

Critical Spenders

No longer feeling supported by social structures, people increasingly believe it’s up to individuals to take care of themselves within a broken world order.

Life Hackers

Sales-event fatigue is setting in. In June 2026, Amazon Prime Day landed alongside Walmart Deals, Target Circle Deal Days and promotions from Best Buy, Kohl’s and Staples, turning what was once a marquee event into a week of competing discounts – so much so that some 43% of US shoppers now say there are too many sales to keep track of. 

PYMNTS

Yet people aren’t exactly abandoning sales events; they’re becoming more selective and tactical about how they participate. For Prime Day this year, nearly half (45%) of shoppers bought something they had specifically waited to purchase on sale and more than half (52%) compared prices across retailers before checking out, with 89% having already participated in previous years. 

Numerator

 now looks different around the world. In South Korea, 

 let users simulate pressing the ‘buy’ button without making an actual payment, turning the interaction itself into entertainment. In China, 

 has moved beyond standard discounts by inviting people to co-create ‘literature’ and memes around a recurring sales event. The moment itself is extending, too. In Southeast Asia, shoppers arrive at 

 with carts prepared, vouchers collected and checkout pages ready, while ‘Shopee hacks’ teach people which sales to wait for, which vouchers to stack and when to buy. Promotional calendars have trained shoppers to compare prices, delay purchases and switch platforms until the timing feels right. What looks like a simple discount window can encompass anticipation, preparation and repeated behaviour long before checkout.

Discounts still matter, but they don’t fully explain why some sales become dates people anticipate and prepare for. Canvas8 spoke to Queensland University of Technology PhD candidate 

, who specialises in online shopping and consumer behaviour. With Gary Mortimer, Shasha Wang and Charmaine Glavas, she authored ‘

Online Retail Sales Events: Scale Development and Validation

’, exploring whether repeated participation is driven only by deal seeking or whether ritual makes these events easier and more enjoyable to take part in.

Terms in bold are explained in the Decode the Jargon section below.

How did you go about conducting your study?

The research had two main goals: to establish a formal definition for online retail sales events and to create a 

 that measures the underlying drivers of consumer participation. The methodology comprised five studies.

We began with an exploratory review of physical sales event literature, followed by 12 qualitative 30-minute interviews with consumers to identify key themes. We then completed a Delphi-style expert panel review, followed by three consumer surveys to refine and validate the scale. In the final research study, a 

, was incorporated to test hypothesised relationships with the scale we developed. In this final study, we developed and tested 11 hypotheses within a nomological network to validate how these drivers connect to broader consumer outcomes.

Why is this topic important to understand?

This is an emerging phenomenon within the literature, and the existing body of work has been fragmented. Studies often reference physical sales, seasonal events, Chinese carnivals or holidays such as Valentine’s Day without a consistent definition for online retail sales events. Traditional holidays or seasonal events do not fit the category of online retail sales events because they lack the deep discounting characteristic of events such as Amazon Prime Day, Click Frenzy or Cyber Monday.

Globally, research has centred predominantly on American or Chinese consumers, with isolated studies examining Greek or Turkish markets. Most prior methodologies relied on single interviews or surveys, transactional data or review articles, leaving a gap regarding consumer motivations and a formal definition.

Commercially, discounts and promotional banners are already everywhere on social media and brand websites. Because deals are so ubiquitous across the board, simply posting a discount means you’re unlikely to stand out. Consumers participating in these events are highly motivated and are excited and eager to shop, making them an ideal audience for building long-term 

On a personal level, I really resonate with this work because I’m a shopper myself. I love these events, and the consumer psychology and behaviour surrounding them are extremely fascinating. Finally, lengthy academic papers can feel overwhelming to some, so bridging that gap and providing clear insights give everyday marketing practitioners a practical way to apply consumer psychology without having to wade through dense literature.

When really digging into online retail sales events, we found that participation is driven by a blend of 

. First, we tried to understand why people get involved, and we identified two core drivers:

Ritualistic consumption (primary driver)


This serves as the primary psychological driver. Participating in online retail sales events functions as a modern shopping ritual characterised by a structured cycle of anticipation, excitement, pre-event preparation (such as saving items to a basket, bookmarking pages or checking social media updates) and post-purchase evaluation.

This represents the active pursuit and drive to secure high-value deals. While deal-seeking is the most intuitive factor for marketers, it is secondary to the ritualistic aspects of participation.

By understanding this, our suggestion is that despite the fact that marketers typically focus on deep discounting, ritualistic consumption is an important driver that has a stronger effect on cognitive enjoyment, which in turn affects satisfaction and loyalty intention.

In our fifth study, we found that ritualistic consumption and deal proneness both positively influenced cognitive enjoyment and perceived ease of use, though perceived control was driven by deal proneness alone. Cognitive enjoyment, perceived control and perceived ease of use all positively affected consumer satisfaction and loyalty intention. Ritualistic consumption and deal proneness directly affected behavioural loyalty intention.

Leverage past purchasing history to acknowledge repeat participation and guide consumers through their pre-event planning cycle.

Ensure websites feature seamless navigation, rapid search functionality and strong usability, as perceived ease of use is directly connected to consumer motivation.

Incorporate gamification or high-intensity temporary deals to elevate cognitive enjoyment and differentiate the brand.

Target high-intent shoppers during major sales windows, as consumers participating in these rituals are motivated to shop, with a strong potential for ongoing loyalty intention.

People aren't experiencing sales events as single transactional windows. Instead, there is a whole cycle of anticipation, planning and post-purchase evaluation at play. Opportunities lie in treating sales as ritual, rewarding early planning behaviours and extending the experience beyond checkout so people have reasons to return to the cycle. Brands could learn from 

 in the US, which has found ways to turn repeated behaviours into rituals. Its ongoing Fansville series returns annually, encouraging fan engagement with an unfolding story. Two-thirds of people worldwide engage in rituals daily, and nearly half have held these rituals for more than five years. 

 That durability shows how repeated behaviours can gain meaning over time. Sales events that want the same staying power need to earn a place in the cycle rather than focus solely on the transaction.

Markdowns are significant, but shoppers are also chasing the experience of the event itself. Around 77% of shoppers across ten markets sometimes or often delay purchases earlier in the year to take advantage of major year-end sales, showing how behaviour can build around an anticipated retail moment. 

 Brands could invest in the experience of discovery itself, using intuitive search and playful participation to make the ritual enjoyable rather than impersonal. UK live shopping marketplace 

SPAR’s early launch of a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino

 tapped the pleasure of anticipating a familiar seasonal moment. Pleasure can come from knowing how a moment works; familiar cues, preparation and repeatable actions make participation easier to navigate and more enjoyable. Sales events can build on this by making the hunt itself part of what shoppers look forward to.

Discount days are often huge in scale, and because of this, they can lose some valuable connection to specificity. But repeated participation creates familiarity, and people respond to being recognised rather than treated as though every interaction starts from scratch. Globally, 60% of shoppers are more likely to buy from brands that remember their preferences. 

 Rather than speaking only to past purchases, brands can recognise how people participate, acknowledging shoppers as returning players in a familiar event. For example, in 2024, Chinese brands responded to a documented dip in enthusiasm surrounding Singles' Day – less than half (49%) of Chinese shoppers were excited about Singles' Day that year, down from 76% in 2021 – by leaning into 

 (anime, comics, gaming merch) aimed specifically at Gens Z and Alpha shoppers. 

Stylus

 It is a reminder that scale and specificity are not opposites; brands can make mass rituals feel familiar without making every return feel the same.

 – The intention to keep returning to or participating in the same experience in future.

 – The mental pleasure or sense of fun someone gets from taking part in an activity.

 – A tendency to actively respond to promotions because securing a good deal or better value is rewarding.

 – A way of testing whether a new concept relates to other established concepts as expected. Here, the researchers tested links between sales-event participation, enjoyment, ease of use, satisfaction and loyalty.

 – Recurring, time-limited online shopping events offering substantial discounts across a broad range of products, such as Prime Day or Cyber Monday.

 – The feeling that you can manage or influence what happens during an experience.

 – How easy someone feels a system or experience is to navigate and use.

 – A research tool that uses a set of questions to measure a psychological trait, attitude or behaviour. Here, it measures the drivers of participation in online sales events.

 – Repeated, structured consumption behaviours tied to a particular event or occasion, such as tracking sale dates or preparing a basket in advance.

 of US Gen Zers purchased something they’d been specifically waiting to go on sale for, while only 

 of European shoppers wait for a specific promotional event before buying gifts

) planned to do some post-Christmas shopping during last year’s Boxing Day sales

People are driven to participate in online sales events primarily by the ritualistic excitement of anticipation rather than simple deal hunting

Shoppers engage in structured planning rituals before sales begin, including saving items to baskets, bookmarking pages and checking social media feeds

Shoppers exhibit repetitive and symbolic habits during annual sales, with specialised events attracting distinct cohorts based on shared values

Sharon Sutherland is currently completing a Doctor of Philosophy (Marketing) at Queensland University of Technology. She is a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) researcher and tertiary educator, specialising in online shopping, consumer psychology, and consumer behaviour. Sharon has over ten years of experience in marketing roles, which include the healthcare, research, legal and financial industries.

Her research is published in top-tier (Q1/A rank) international journals, including the 

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

South Korea

Republic of Korea

China

Indonesia

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Taiwan

United States

Global

Resale and online marketplaces

Apps and software

Fashion and Style

Coffee and soft drinks

General food

With sales days increasingly overlapping, standing out takes more than a markdown. Canvas8 spoke to Sharon Sutherland of the Queensland University of Technology about why anticipation, preparation and repeat participation can turn online sales into rituals that keep shoppers coming back.

Analysis

Tessa Mullen

Sharon Sutherland

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