Giving the Gift of… Housewares Holiday Gift Ideas

Decision fatigue is real, and consumers’ love affair with the endless aisle may be cooling. This holiday season, retailers can win sales by giving shoppers the gift of time and energy — in the form of curated assortments and thoughtful gift-giving advice.

The Case for Curation

In the 1950s, grocery shoppers had less than 20 cereals to choose from. Today, that number is over 400, according to Morning Consult. This exponential growth can be found in just about every consumer product category — and is only magnified by the fact we can buy each of these products from an infinite number of digital sellers.

“On its face, of course, choice is a good thing,” says Morning Consult analyst Lindsey Roeschke. “But it can also be overwhelming, especially given that today’s consumers are living in a world where they make an estimated 35,000-plus choices every day.”

According to Accenture, shopper stress is worsening. Their 2025 Holiday Shopping Survey found that 85% of consumers are likely to abandon their carts due to frustration or indecision — a percentage that’s worsened from even last year. 76% of consumers report feeling overwhelmed by too many product choices.

Reducing Holiday Stress

This holiday season, retailers should consider ways to help ease shopper stress. This could involve in-store services, environments and experiences, but also should include curated assortments and gift-giving advice.

After all, “(The holiday season) is a time to help people remember that choosing and buying gifts for others should feel good — and even be a source of joy,” Accenture’s report says.

Gift Giving Guidance

Even if you didn’t budget for a printed gift guide, digital advertising and social channels are an excellent way to promote an online version. You can also use your social channels to promote housewares holiday gift ideas for different people on shoppers’ lists or use special displays to curate arrangements in-store.

Curation is the key. Pare down your recommendations, organize them by how consumers are shopping, and make them easy to understand. You can arrange groupings by different categories of people, say “Young Professionals” or “Active Seniors,” or people with specific interests like “The Foodie” or the “The World Traveler.” We’ve also seen gift lists grouped by personality (e.g., “The Homebody” or “The Party Starter”), and of course, there’s value in grouping by price range.

Don’t hesitate to get creative when cultivating recommendations. “There is a quiet beauty in giving an elevated, everyday home item as a gift,” points out Wirecutter newsletters editor Haley Jo Lewis in The Recommendation. “Good glassware, for example, might delight your recipient in the gift-giving moment, maybe because it’s unique, beautiful or even a bit sentimental. But then? It just does its job, becoming a comforting fixture in their lives.”

To get you started, here are a few home-related gift guide suggestions:

Find more thoughtful gift ideas for the home in Connect 365.