Millennials and Gen Z have earned a rightful reputation for doing things differently. They have redefined remote work, reinvented the culture of recruitment, relied on purpose-driven business models, and challenged the processes that older generations took for granted. The instinct to fight against defaults has led to really good results.
But not everyone deserves to replace old things. Some customs survive because they work, connect people, and make the world a better place with them. Holiday decorations are one of them. And if you’re running a business with a physical presence, skipping it is a mistake that will quietly cost you in unnecessary operating costs or outdated retail gimmicks.
Here’s what the data actually means, and what it means for how you navigate the crucial Q4 holiday season.
Your generation is not really against tradition. The numbers say so.
There is a persistent narrative that younger generations are abandoning holiday traditions. The truth is more interesting. According to Simon-Kucher’s Holiday Shopping ReportThree out of four Gen Z and Millennial consumers either maintain their childhood traditions or are actively working to create new ones. Pion Research identifies nostalgia as the biggest driver of the holiday season, especially for Gen Z shoppers.
A Harris survey found that 68 percent of Gen Z and Millennials consider shopping at malls a cherished tradition, with 84 percent of Millennials reporting the festive atmosphere and nostalgic appeal of physical retail spaces. It’s not the behavior of generations that reject tradition—it’s generations that have grown through it and are bringing it with them as they build their lives and businesses.
The business case is stronger than you think
The holiday season is not a level playing field. Businesses that make an effort to showcase their exteriors in November and December attract more people, keep customers’ attention longer, and make stronger first impressions.
Millennial and Gen Z consumers plan to spend more, not less, during the holidays. According to Simon-Kucher, Gen Z plans to spend 21 percent more annually through the 2024 holiday season, while Millennials plan to increase by 15 percent. These are the customers walking past your store in December. A well-lit, thoughtfully decorated exterior is one of the fastest ways to give them a reason to walk.
A polished exterior also translates directly to social media activity, a channel that young entrepreneurs understand.
One well-lit showcase can generate organic content that no amount of paid advertising budget can directly replicate.
This is where most young business owners drop the ball
The failure mode for young business owners is usually not a conscious decision against decorum. December comes sooner than expected, business gets busy and outdoor decorating gets pushed down the list until time runs out.
Businesses that do well start earlier than they should. Ordering, planning the layout, getting any installation help – all this needs to be done before the season starts in full swing. By the time November rolls around, your plan should already be set.
If your business is open for long hours, your outdoor lights will last six to eight weeks in all weather conditions. Consumer corded lights are not designed for this. Outdoor Christmas lights designed for commercial use, constructed with heavier gauge wire, weather-resistant fittings and materials designed for long-term outdoor exposure. Buying a commercial-grade bulb once and maintaining it properly is much more cost-effective than replacing cheaper lights every season – and the output looks much more intentional.
Plan before you order anything. Choose a color palette, determine which architectural features you want to emphasize, confirm power access, and find out approximately how many linear feet you need to cover.
What decoration actually communicates to your customers
Young entrepreneurs are usually very attuned to brand signals. You already know that the look, sound, and feel of your brand determines how people interact with it. During the holiday season, your appearance is also a brand signal – working 24 hours a day, seven days a week for two months of the year.
During the holiday season, a dark or undecorated display case is minimal or intentionally illegible. It reads no. It means that he couldn’t bother with the business or didn’t think about it. Neither of these is the impression you want to make during the peak pedestrian traffic time of the year.
A lit, decorated exterior conveys something different: that there are people running the place, that they care about the experience of coming, and that something worthwhile is happening inside. This impression is formed before a single customer opens your door, and it directly affects their discomfort.
Research in consumer psychology shows that holiday lighting creates positive emotional responses linked to nostalgia and social connection—making people more likely to engage with a business, stay longer, and return. You don’t need a complete understanding of neuroscience to use it. You just need to install the lights.
A few principles that are really worth following
If you are doing this for the first time in a business location, a few practical principles will save you time and money.
Choose one color direction and stick to it. Warm white is versatile and photographs well – it suits almost any type of business. Multicolor works for businesses with a more energetic or playful identity. Mixing the two on the same front destroys both.
Follow the architecture. The best outdoor displays follow the building’s natural lines, such as roofs, window sills, porches, doors, and columns. Post-structural light is taken into account. The light that ignores the structure appears to be thrown.
Always switch to LED. LED holiday lights use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lights and last significantly longer. This is a real cost difference for a business that runs the lights throughout the entire holiday season. LEDs also stay cool, eliminating safety concerns near window screens or greenery.
Plan to save. If you buy quality commercial lights and store them properly in rolls, they will last for years. Assign someone to carefully remove and mark where it goes. Businesses that view their recreational equipment as a recurring asset rather than a one-time seasonal purchase will get more bang for their buck.
Some things take their place on the tradition column
Young business owners have the right to question inherited assumptions. The 9-to-5 structure, the office-for-the-office mentality, and hierarchical management styles that stifle creativity are all worth a closer look.
However, Christmas lights on a business building are not a souvenir worth throwing away. They are a working tool, based on an emotional fact that surveys across generations have confirmed: people respond to warmth, light, the signal that someone cares about something.
Millennial and Gen Z entrepreneurs are building businesses from scratch, often in competitive markets with limited margins for wasted opportunities. The holiday season is one of the most profitable periods of the business calendar. Showing people that you’re here and that you care is a visible, warm presence that’s one of the lower-cost, high-impact things you can do.
