For retailers, the festive season remains the most important and unforgiving period in the calendar.
It is the period that often determines whether the year ends with a profit and the unique moment when weaknesses in performance, security or customer experience are mercilessly exposed.
The fundamentals have not changed, but the dynamics that shape them have.
Global e-commerce sales will reach $1.2 trillion by 2024, and nearly 70% of all online purchases will be made via mobile devices. This change means that speed, resilience and low latency are no longer negotiable. In an age when shoppers are browsing on the go, online or from the couch, even a small delay can cause them to turn to a competitor.
Cloudflare’s own network recorded 405 billion requests to e-commerce sites on Black Friday 2024, a 50% increase from the previous week, showing how extreme seasonal peaks have become.
And as Black Friday peaked, demand didn’t just increase, it expanded. Discount periods are longer, traffic increases more irregularly and the digital push continues into December. While holiday demand is expected to remain high and volatile, the margin for error has never been smaller.
AI-powered attacks are redefining the threat landscape
Retailers have long anticipated an increase in traffic, but the threat landscape has changed even faster. Cybercriminals operate on a larger scale and artificial intelligence makes attacks more convincing, targeted and automated.
Deepfake-assisted phishing can convincingly impersonate managers or suppliers and lead to stolen credentials or fraudulent payments. We also see phishing campaigns tailored to specific employees and roles in real time, with a familiar language, timing and internal context that makes it seem routine during peak weeks.
Meanwhile, standalone ransomware tools can quickly scan, infiltrate and encrypt systems, bypassing traditional defenses based on a patchwork of targeted solutions.
Robots are also being developed. What looks like store traffic can disguise attempts to fill in credentials, steal loyalty points, or scrap price-cutting promotions. During the holidays, the increase in legitimate traffic makes it harder to detect malicious automation, increasing the risk of fraud without disrupting real customers.
As customer expectations rise, teams feel the pressure
Customers can now easily switch between channels: browse on mobile devices, search on desktop and make purchases in store or via apps. They expect a consistent, fast experience with personalized recommendations and seamless payments, regardless of device or location.
But the budgets have not increased at the same rate. Many retailers operate with smaller teams and lower costs, but still struggle to innovate, secure and scale. This convergence of limited resources, growing demand and smarter threats creates real operational tensions.
Processes that worked five years ago no longer scale to today’s e-commerce scale, making automation and consolidation essential to keep pace.
A unified cloud platform reduces complexity
This is where simplification becomes a strategic advantage. Instead of expanding their tool sets, more and more retailers are turning to unified, cloud-based connectivity platforms that combine performance, security and development capabilities in a single environment.
Large distributed networks can counter terabit DDoS attacks, while cloud defenses filter traffic before it reaches the core infrastructure. Advanced bot management uses behavioral analysis and machine learning to stop automated scraping and fraud without resorting to CAPTCHAs that frustrate buyers.
Zero Trust security models, multi-factor authentication and strong email protection reduce the risk of ransomware at the point of entry and limit lateral movement when devices or credentials are compromised.
Meanwhile, end-to-end encryption, client-side protection and real-time data loss prevention protect customer data and support PCI-DSS compliance over long transaction periods.
The customer experience always determines who wins during high season
Security and performance are only half the story. The other half delivers great customer experiences, even under heavy use. Customers expect instant page loading, flexible payments, reliable loyalty programs and apps that never crash.
Meeting this standard requires automatically scalable infrastructure and development tools that enable rapid feature deployment, secure testing, and fast implementation without the risk of downtime.
The API-first architecture helps retailers connect inventory, payment, fulfillment, recommendations and loyalty data into a seamless omnichannel experience. But APIs have become a critical attack vector and must therefore be secure throughout their lifecycle.
To win the year-end holiday, you need to simplify the game
During the 2025 holiday season, the combination of increased traffic, intelligent threats and higher customer expectations will make complexity a burden. Fragmented systems slow down teams, create risk of misconfiguration and reduce agility at the worst possible times.
Resellers who consolidate performance, security, and development environments reduce operational costs, respond faster to incidents, and make improvements with confidence. Most importantly, they create a durable foundation that supports both innovation and protection during the busiest weeks of the year.
Top trading no longer happens in a month. Retailers who modernize now will be the ones who can meet demand, protect revenue and deliver fast, reliable experiences that build long-term customer loyalty.
