Story perspectives

Holiday Spending Soars 25%, Small Businesses Embrace AI

10/24/2025

Summary

Small Businesses Thrive

U.S. holiday season spending is expected to reach $263 billion, a 25% increase from last year.
Forty-one percent of holiday spending goes to small businesses.
However, 86% of consumers worry about tariffs and inflation, 32% plan to raise prices, and 44% will offer deals.
Nearly 75% of small business owners plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, focusing on mobile and in-store sales.

Summary

Lendflow Transforms Lending

Lendflow unified platform integrates over 200 data vendors to reduce fragmentation in SMB lending, improving distribution, decisions, and workflow automation.
BHG Financial reports underwriting approval rates rose from 20% to nearly 70% after adopting Lendflow's modular architecture.
The platform automatically routes declined applicants to other lenders, turning dead ends into opportunities.
Lendflow aims to level the SMB playing field by enabling access to lending options similar to consumer loans.

History

Historical Context

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, enacted to stimulate economic recovery post-2008 financial crisis, allocated $12 billion in tax breaks and established a $30 billion lending program for community banks. This legislation aimed to support small businesses, which now represent 41% of holiday spending, amidst ongoing economic challenges like inflation and tariffs, highlighting its lasting impact on innovation and capital access.

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Small Businesses Thrive

U.S. holiday season spending is expected to reach $263 billion, a 25% increase from last year.
Forty-one percent of holiday spending goes to small businesses.
However, 86% of consumers worry about tariffs and inflation, 32% plan to raise prices, and 44% will offer deals.
Nearly 75% of small business owners plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, focusing on mobile and in-store sales.

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