Automation During the New Year Holidays: A Review of Technologies, Costs, and Trends

Holiday Installations and Shows (Lights, Fireworks, Drones)

Technologies and Tools.

In the realm of urban holiday lights and shows, automated control systems for lighting and pyrotechnics are widely used. Electric string lights and architectural lighting are connected to timers and IoTcontrollers, enabling the programming of complex light scenarios (flashing, color changes on schedule) without manual intervention. For large light installations, DMXcontrollers and show control software are used: they synchronize thousands of LED lamps and spotlights according to a single script (musical light shows on buildings, "dancing" Christmas tree lights, etc.). At the household level, "smart" string lights (e.g., Twinkly, Philips Hue Festavia) have emerged – they can be configured via a smartphone, animations can be selected, and they can be synchronized with music.

Fireworks have also long been automated: large shows are launched via digital firing systems. Pyrotechnicians program the sequence of salvos on a computer, and on-site electronic consoles ignite the charges strictly on time, often to musical accompaniment. This enables synchronized pyro-musical performances. Drone shows are a relatively new phenomenon: hundreds and thousands of drones with LED lighting are coordinated via GPS and radio, forming moving light figures in the sky. Specialized software is used for control, updating flight trajectories every fraction of a second. Leading companies (Intel, Ehang, High Great, etc.) offer comprehensive solutions: the drones themselves, software for their group control, and creative services for show content creation. In addition, laser and projection installations are increasingly part of shows – lasers and 3D projectors can "draw" images in the sky or on building facades, complementing or replacing traditional fireworks.

Costs and Regional Differences.

Holiday shows can require significant investments. For example, New Year's fireworks in major capitals cost millions: London spent around £1.8–2.3 million annually in the late 2010s (≈$3 million in 2018), and by 2020 the show budget had grown to $6.5M (for a 10-minute salute). Sydney (Australia) is traditionally comparable – around $5–6 million for a New Year's fireworks display. For comparison, an average city in the US might spend tens or hundreds of thousands: a typical 10–15 minute show costs $75–150 thousand for a mid-sized city.

In Kazakhstan, the scales are more modest, but the largest metropolises also allocate serious sums for New Year's decorations. In 2024, Almaty allocated 800 million tenge (≈$1.7 million) for the city's festive decor – from the airport to central squares, including the installation of over 80 Christmas trees and kilometers of string lights. The capital Astana spent slightly less – about 697 million tenge,organizing dozens of locations with trees, illuminations, ice towns, and fireworks. For comparison, the budgets of regional centers in Kazakhstan can range from several million to ~200 million tenge (e.g., Karaganda – 200 million tenge), while small cities sometimes limit themselves to minimal funds or even rely on supplies from previous years. In the UK, New Year's shows are funded by both city budgets and sponsors; in London, part of the costs is covered by ticket sales for viewing. In recent years, London has considered cutting the traditional fireworks in favor of new forms – partly due to the price of £2–2.5 million per show and environmental considerations.

Trends and New Solutions.

There is a steady shift towards more environmentally friendly and technological forms of celebration. The main trend is light drones instead of fireworks.Drone shows are gaining popularity worldwide as a spectacular and eco-friendly alternative to fireworks. They do not create smoke, emissions of heavy metals, or tons of waste associated with traditional fireworks. Furthermore, drones are practically silent – there are no loud explosions that frighten people and animals. The environmental effect is significant: cities seek to reduce air pollution and noise impact, especially after studies on the harm of fireworks (for example, in Germany, New Year's fireworks emit about 4000 tons of fine particulate matter – 15% of annual vehicle emissions). As a result, laser-drone showsare increasingly held in Europe and Asia. Records have been broken in China: in September 2024, a show with 7,598 drones officially entered the Guinness Book of Records, and social media reported unofficial launches of up to 10–15 thousand drones simultaneously. Chinese cities are famous for grand drone installations for the New Year and Spring Festival. In Europe, the transition is slower but also noticeable: for example, London at the turn of 2020/2021 for the first time staged a hybrid show – a combination of fireworks, architectural lighting, and 300 dronesforming figures above the O2 Arena was broadcast from different locations (the show included an address by David Attenborough, etc.). This was the largest drone show in UK history at that time. In 2023–2025, drones were actively used for anniversaries and city days: for example, Almaty hosted a show of 500 drones on Republic Day, creating 3D figures in the sky, and Astana planned a New Year's drone show in 2025 (canceled due to a blizzard). Hybrid approaches are also emerging – some pyrotechnic firms now combine a smaller number of fireworks with drones and projections to reduce environmental damage. "Green" fireworksare also being developed: biodegradable shell casings instead of plastic and new mixtures to reduce smoke toxicity, but they are still more expensive and have not become widespread.

In-House Solutions vs SaaS vs Outsourcing.

In the field of urban shows, outsourcing prevails:municipalities and companies hire specialized contractors. Fireworks launches are entrusted to pyrotechnic firms that bring their own equipment and software. Conducting drone shows is a high-tech service requiring trained operators and permits, so it is offered by few companies (e.g., UK's SkyMagicUS's Verge Aero,China's HighGreat etc.). These providers use their own ready-made platforms – essentially "turnkey show" SaaS/PaaSsolutions, where the customer pays for the result. Cities almost never develop their own in-house systems due to complexity and the one-off nature of events. However, at the level of private enthusiasts, there are amateur systems (Arduino controllers, Raspberry Pi with software like xLights) for synchronizing house lights with music they are homemade,although many use community open-source software. In general, the choice in holiday installations is as follows: built-in functions (timers, "smart" bulbs) for simple tasks, purchasing ready-made systems (DMX controllers, light panels) for advanced installations, or full outsourcing of a large show to a specialized team. For example, all aspects of London's 2021 New Year's show (from drones to lasers) were coordinated by a team of contractors under the auspices of the mayor's office. The table below compares traditional fireworks and drone shows:

Marketing and Communications (Push Notifications, Mailings, Personalization, Chatbots)

Marketing Automation During Holidays.

The period of New Year's sales is the peak of activity for marketers, and automated communications are essential here. Companies use omnichannel campaigns:push notifications in mobile apps, email,SMS, and messages in messengers or chatbots. All these channels share the ability to be triggered automatically based on set rules. For example, a customer can be segmented by behavior and sent a personalized holiday offer (a coupon for a product category they often view) – the system itself will choose the channel (push or email) and send time based on the best probability of response. Modern marketing automation platforms (HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, MailChimp, etc.)allow setting up such scenarios without human involvement in real time.

Push notifications are an extremely popular tool for retail and e-commerce during the holiday season. They appear instantly on a smartphone screen, attracting attention to sales, new items, or abandoned carts. According to research, over a third of buyers (34%) say they learn about Cyber Week discounts specifically from retailer apps and their push notifications. That is, this channel has almost caught up with email (54%) and social media (47%) as a source of promotion information. Mobile apps of banks and stores in Kazakhstan and CIS actively use push: for example, the Kaspi.kz super-app sends reminders about "Kaspi Zhuma people's sale" and New Year's promotions, encouraging users to open the app. Push notifications are generated automatically based on templates and user data – name, personal discount percentage, items from favorites, etc. are inserted. Often push is combined with geolocation (if the customer is near a shopping mall – notify about a sale inside) and behavior (hasn't logged in for a long time – send "We miss you, here's a coupon!").

Email campaigns continue to play a major role. Holiday email campaigns are carefully segmented: for example, separate emails for VIP clients with an invitation to a private sale, trigger emails for "abandoned cart" with a holiday promo code, etc. Automation also rules here: by the end of 2023, only 2% of all emails sent were automated, but they accounted for 41% of e-commerce orders – confirming the effectiveness of trigger emails. On average for the industry in 2024, the open rate of promo emails increased to ~40%, and the Holiday & Seasonal category had one of the highest conversion rates (increase from 0.03% to 0.05%) – although the numbers seem small, they are significant for mass mailings. Tools like ESPs (email service providers) allow setting complex scenarios: for example, an "Advent calendar" email series – each day in December, an email with a new special offer is automatically sent to the client. Personalization inserts product recommendations that the system selects based on previous purchases. According to HubSpot, 77% of marketers in 2025 already use AIalgorithms in automation tools to generate personalized content.

SMS marketing is experiencing a revival as a quick way to reach an audience. During holidays, many brands send SMS alerts about flash sales (e.g., "Today only until midnight – sale -30% on everything"). Automation here is expressed in integrating SMS gateways with CRM: the system itself will send the required text to thousands of subscribers and process delivery statuses. Sending can be tied to events (e.g., a customer signs up for a loyalty program – send a welcome message with a promo code). In Kazakhstan, SMS remains an important channel, given high mobile penetration; banks and stores send greetings and promos, trying to personalize (e.g., a New Year's greeting by name with an offer to increase a credit limit – all formed by a robot from a template).

Chatbots and Messengers. During peak support and sales seasons, chatbots come to the rescue – automated conversational agents in website chats or messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger). They can instantly answer frequent questions: store opening hours during holidays, order delivery status, promotion terms, etc. Thanks to AI, new chatbots can even suggest gift ideas: the user describes whom the gift is for (e.g., "mom, loves cooking"), and the bot recommends products based on the catalog. According to a recent survey, 3 out of 4 buyers are willing to use AItools to help choose gifts and find discounts, and about 10% have already found good deals through such AI (e.g., asked ChatGPT about the best prices). In the UK, retail chains are increasingly implementing chatbots during the holiday period: Tesco launched a WhatsApp helper bot for ordering Christmas grocery sets, and in the US, Sephora trained a chatbot to advise on holiday cosmetics based on skin type. Additionally, bots automate personal outreach – for example, personalized holiday greetings on social media.

Marketing Expenses and ROI.

Globally, companies increase investments in marketing automation tools annually. According to Grand View Research, the global martech automation market was valued at ~$6.65 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $15.6 billion by 2030 (average annual growth of 15+%). This is confirmed by company plans: 70% of CMOs intend to increase automation budgets in 2025. And the reason is clear – it pays off: according to Nucleus Researchthe average business earns $5.44 in revenue for every $1 invested in marketing automation (ROI 544% over three years). In the pre-New Year quarter, the share of marketing budgets is especially large. In the UK, for example, advertising spending in Q4 2024 reached a record £10.5 billion (growth ~8% compared to the previous year) – this is mainly spending on Christmas campaigns. Moreover, digital channels were the growth driver: spending on search and online advertising during the holidays exceeded £7.9 billion, significantly surpassing television. This volume includes costs for personalization tools, programmatic, analytical platforms – without them, an effective digital campaign is unthinkable.

In Kazakhstan, budgets are smaller in absolute terms, but the trend is similar. The advertising market of Kazakhstan in the first half of 2025 reached 27 billion tenge (≈$57 million), adding 17% compared to last year – growth is driven by digital advertising. Digital channels have become the only option: the online audience is ~93% of the population, so companies are massively implementing auto-targeting, programmatic buying, and personalization.It is noted that in 2024–25, the words "AI, automation, optimization" were heard at every industry conference – Kazakh marketing is adopting global trends. Specifically for New Year's campaigns, businesses prepare in advance: increasing spending on SMM, collaborations with bloggers, launching Telegram chatbots for accepting holiday set orders, etc. (in 2025, investments in influencer marketing in Kazakhstan were estimated at ~$37 million, part of which are New Year integrations). Thus, both globally and regionally, there is growth in investments in automated marketing solutions, especially for successful sales in the "golden season" at the end of the year.

What is Used More Often – In-House Solutions, SaaS, or Outsourcing? In marketing technology in recent years, the SaaS approach prevails.Most companies do not write mailing engines or recommendation algorithms from scratch but take ready-made cloud platforms. About 75% of businesses worldwide already use some automation of marketing processes, and most often these are external services (ESP for email, CRM systems, platforms for push). This is understandable: modern SaaS (from mass-market like MailChimp to enterprise like Adobe Campaign) provide rich functionality "out of the box" – from segmentation to A/Btesting – and they are faster to implement. Large retailers in developed countries can afford to integrate several systems and their own customization. For example, the British Marks & Spencer uses Salesforce Marketing Cloud, adding its own analytics modules – an in-house team of engineers adapts the platform to the retailer's needs. But this is more the exception. Small and medium businesses massively go for SaaS: affordable subscriptions like ActiveCampaign, SendPulse, Bitrix24, etc. have enabled automation even without IT specialists. As a result, the entry barrier is lowered – as analysts note, thanks to SaaS and freemium models, even small companies have started using marketing robots, whereas previously it was the prerogative of large corporations.

Agency outsourcing is also present: many companies entrust the setup of email campaigns or management of advertising accounts to a digital agency. Formally, the agency still uses SaaS tools, just management is delegated. In Kazakhstan, this is quite common among traditional businesses that lack internal expertise – to hire a digitalagency for holiday promotions. However, the trend in recent years is insourcing, i.e., bringing key competencies in-house. With the increasing availability of tools, marketers prefer to manage automation themselves, not outsourcing strategically important customer data.

Notable Examples.

Case studies of holiday marketing automation implementation include, for example, the British chain John Lewis, famous for its Christmas campaigns. They are not limited to a touching TV commercial – the company launches a series of trigger emails for different segments (for parents about toy discounts, for youth – fashionable gadgets), using data on previous purchases. These emails are generated by the Adobe Campaign system, which inserts personalized product recommendations. The result is double-digit growth in conversion compared to non-personalized mailings (exact figures are not disclosed, but the general fact is known: automated personalized emails bring a significantly higher response).Another example is the Kazakh banking-trading giant Kaspi.kz: in their app during holiday sales, users see personalized banners with products selected by an algorithm according to their profile (viewing history, financial capabilities). This recommendation engine is Kaspi's own development based on ML. Thus, even in the region, there are local in-house innovations alongside the use of ready-made tools.

In general, New Year's marketing today is unthinkable without automation. Competition for consumer attention is so high that those who hit the targetmore accurately win. And this cannot be achieved manually for the entire customer base – algorithms, AI, and smart triggers working 24/7 are needed.

E-commerce and Retail (Discounts, Pricing, Recommendations, Logistics)

Dynamic Prices and Discounts.

The holiday season is a time of aggressive discounts (Black Friday, New Year's sales), and retailers apply real-time price automation systems. Dynamic pricing is based on algorithms that can change product prices several times a day depending on demand, stock levels, and competitor activity. For example, major online platforms (Amazon, Walmart) have their own AImodels that monitor millions of items and adjust prices to remain attractive. This process is fully automatic: every few minutes the system can lower or raise a product's price, reacting to the market. It is known that Amazon can change the price of an item up to 2.5 million times a day across the catalog – manually this would be impossible. In Kazakhstan and CIS, dynamic pricing is also emerging: marketplaces like Wildberries, Ozon apply auto-discounts to sellers (if a product sells poorly, the algorithm suggests lowering the price). For holidays, many enable a "discount electronic auction" mode – when the system gradually increases the discount percentage on overstocked items until they start selling. Special SaaS services (Prisync, Competera, etc.) allow even medium-sized online stores to monitor competitor prices and recommend the optimal price for their product. In offline, large chains (hypermarkets, electronics) use electronic price tags – they are connected to a unified system and can be instantly updated on shelves. This simplifies conducting "flash sales," when the price is reduced for 2–3 hours, attracting buyers, and then automatically returns to the original.

Smart Recommendation Systems.

Recommendation algorithms are the hidden force of e-commerce, especially during the gift-giving period. They analyze buyer behavior (views, clicks, purchases) and suggest personalized products: "You might like," "Frequently bought together." Today these recommendation blocks are generated by neural networks trained on big data. A vivid example is Amazon: its recommendation system, according to McKinsey estimates, drives 35% of the company's total revenue. That is, over a third of sales happen because AI "suggested" an additional item to the client. In the run-up to holidays, targeting algorithms become even more cunning: they consider popular gift categories, seasonal trends. For example, if a user frequently views sports goods, closer to holidays they will start seeing recommended gifts for athletes (new fitness gadgets, certificates). Recommendation engines are also available as ready-made solutionsReco as a Service): there are platforms like Amazon Personalize Amazon Personalize(AWS), Google Recommendations AI,and also niche services (Nosto, Retail Rocket) on the market. Kazakh online stores and banks are starting to implement such systems – often along with a loyalty program. For example, the Technodom marketplace shows registered users selections like "what people your age give for the New Year" – likely implemented via a cloud recommendation service considering the client's age.

Warehouse and Delivery Automation.

Logistics is an area where automation is most tangible, especially during peak sales periods. Warehouse automation includes robotic complexes, warehouse management systems(WMS),sorting lines, etc. World e-commerce leaders have invested colossal funds in this. For example, Amazon from 2012 to 2023 deployed over 750,000 robots in its fulfillment centers, and by 2025 their number, according to some data, exceeded 1 million.These robots – automated carts like Kiva/Proteus, etc. – transport racks with goods to human pickers or robotic manipulators. As a result, productivity has soared: Amazon now processes~3,860 packages per employee annually, whereas in 2016 it was only 175 – growth due to automation is impressive. A British example is Ocadoan online supermarket whose warehouses are considered among the most technologically advanced. At the core of their system is a robotic grid ("The Hive") on which hundreds of box-like robots move, rearranging product bins. This allows picking an order of 50 items in just 5 minutes, whereas manually it would take up to half an hour. One Ocado warehouse with ~3,000 robots can fulfill 65,000 orders per week. Robots work around the clock, and AIalgorithms manage their flows, avoiding collisions. In addition, automatic lines are used for sorting and packing: Ocado reports achieving 300 units per hour per robotic manipulator when placing goods, which is comparable to or higher than human speed, with almost zero errors.

In Kazakhstan, the introduction of warehouse robotics is just beginning, but interest is growing rapidly. According to local integrators, large retailers and e-commerce with large order volumes are the first to install warehouse robots. AGV cartsand conveyors are already used at distribution centers of FMCG networks, integrated with 1C and WMS systems. For example, a warehouse of one of the marketplaces in Almaty was equipped with autonomous stackers and a Pick-to-Lightsystem, speeding up order picking. Although full robotization (like in Amazon warehouses) is still rare in Kazakhstan, companies see the efficiency: properly implemented solutions pay off through labor cost savings and operational acceleration. In 2025, there was even talk of the first fully automated distribution center in Central Asia – plans were voiced by Kazpost, aiming to optimize the growing flow of parcels.

Last-Mile Delivery is also evolving thanks to technology. Routing optimization algorithms daily recalculate how couriers can deliver the maximum number of orders in minimum time considering traffic. Service platforms (like Route4Me, Yandex.Routificator)are used by logistics departments of large retailers. Furthermore, experiments are being conducted with delivery drones and ground robots. In the US, Amazon and Alphabet (Wing) are testing delivery of small packages by drones over distances of ~10 km: during the 2024 holiday season, Amazon reported thousands of trial drone deliveries in California and Texas. In the UK and Europe, cute six-wheeled Starship delivery robots are gaining popularity – they can be seen in London, Milton Keynes, Tallinn. They autonomously travel on sidewalks and bring the order to the client, who unlocks it with a smartphone. Although these are still localized projects (often for food delivery), in the future holiday periods will be offloaded by such autonomous couriers, avoiding overtime for humans.

IT Management Systems.

The invisible but critically important part of automation software for managing all these processes. In retail, ERPmodules for inventory management, (WMS), for warehouse operations, TMS for transport logistics are ubiquitous. These systems are equipped with auto-analytics modules: for example, they predict a surge in demand for champagne and increase automatic stock orders to warehouses in advancedemand forecasting). AI also helps solve the problem of empty shelves: analyzes sales and issues a command to move goods from the warehouse to the needed store (or between branches) in time. International chains (H&M, Zara) have implemented algorithms that redistribute goods between stores according to holiday demand. In e-commerceorder fulfillment automationplays a huge role: systems track the entire order path without human intervention, from placement on the website to delivery. The buyer receives automatic notifications: "Your order has been accepted," "Packed," "Handed over to courier" – these messages are generated by an OMS (order management system) connected to the courier service via API. During the pre-New Year period, when the number of orders increases manyfold, such end-to-end automation allows handling the load and minimizing errors.

Investments and ROI.

Automation in retail requires significant investments, but businesses consider them strategically necessary. The global market for retail automation technologies (including robots, AI for data analysis, etc.) is growing at double-digit rates. For example, the global warehouse automation market by various estimates doubled from ~$13 billion in 2019 to ~$27 billion in 2025. By 2030, forecasts give figures of $55–70 billion, i.e., investments continue to increase. Such growth is fueled by leaders' successes: Amazon invests billions annually in robotics, Ocado sells its automated platform to partners worldwide (they have deals with Kroger in the US, Aeon in Japan, etc., essentially exporting British robotics). ROI from automation is expressed not only in cost savings but also in the ability to handle peak sales volumes. In December 2024, Americans spent $241.4 billion online (+8.7% year-on-year) – one can imagine the scale of logistics. Without robotic sorting centers and smart delivery algorithms, such volumes would lead to service collapse. Therefore, even in Kazakhstan, retailers have started automating logistics: Magnum (the largest grocery chain) implemented a voice picking system and sorting conveyors, allowing it to handle the New Year's influx of orders in 2025 without hiring an additional army of warehouse workers.

In-House vs Ready-Made Solutions vs 3PL.

Technology implementation in retail follows two paths. Giants (Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba) often develop key systems in-houseAmazon has its own robotics platform (legacy of the Kiva Systems acquisition), its own AImodels for forecasting and pricing written by its engineers. This provides a unique competitive advantage but requires huge resources. Most other companies prefer to buy ready-made solutions or use provider services. Cloud SaaSsystems for retail are popular: for example, Shopify offers built-in demand analytics and inventory management for its clients – hundreds of thousands of small online stores use this instead of developing their own. Midsizecompanies usually purchase licenses for ERP (SAP, Oracle) and modular solutions (for WMS, TMS) and adapt them with the help of integrators. In Kazakhstan, where many business processes are historically on 1C, many add-ons have appeared: companies like UIS, VRX offer ready-made warehouse automation modules based on familiar systems. That is, more often they buy and implement,not create from scratch.

Another option is logistics outsourcing (3PL).Many online stores and brands outsource storage and delivery to external fulfillment operators whose processes are already automated. For example, a clothing brand can use the warehouse service of Ozon in Russia or Maersk in the EU, where everything – from receiving to sorting – is done by robots, and the brand simply pays for the service. In Kazakhstan, there are examples: the Flip marketplace offered sellers to store goods in its automated warehouse; also, fulfillment center projects from the Post and private logisticians are starting, so even small businesses can "rent" ready-made infrastructure.

Examples and Trends.

An illustration of automation success is again Amazon: thanks to AI, they predict demand so accurately that in some US areas they pre-deliver goods closer to customers even before the order is placed (anticipatory shipping). This reduces delivery times to a few hours. 75% of Amazon's internal operations are already somehow automated, and the company plans to increase this figure to 90% by 2030 (while creating new qualified jobs for robot maintenance, which is socially important). In the UK, warehouse automation has become a competitive advantage in grocery retail – after Ocado's success, all major chains (Tesco, Sainsbury's) invest in automated online order centers. Tesco, for example, opened several Urban Fulfilment Centres – these are mini-warehouses attached to supermarkets where orders are picked not by people in the sales area but by small robots moving goods in a "staff only" zone. This speeds up picking and reduces costs by 30%.

It is important to note that implementing automation is not a one-time action but a continuous improvement process.The development of AI in 2023–2025 gave retail new tools: generative models helped create personalized product descriptions "on the fly," answer customers in chat in human language, optimize online storefronts for each user. All this intensifies during holidays when every little detail in the customer experience influences the purchase decision. Retailers applying these advanced technologies demonstrate above-average sales growth and loyalty rates.

Conclusion

The growth of automation in all areas of the New Year season is an obvious global trend. Holiday lights and shows are becoming smarter and more environmentally friendly: cities experiment with drones and light installations, seeking to reduce harm from fireworks while simultaneously surprising the public with new art forms. Marketing during holidays is now almost completely digital and algorithmic – personalized mailings and pushes using AI deliver a profitable offer to each individual, increasing the chance of purchase. Retail and e-commerce rely on big data and robots to cope with frenzied demand: prices, warehouses, delivery are automated – from the moment a customer clicks "order" to the handover of the parcel, a chain of machine decisions increasingly works.

At the same time, there are regional specifics. In Kazakhstan, technology adoption is gradual: budgets for holiday shows and marketing are smaller, but even here market leaders adopt global experience – from drone shows on state holidays to AI bots in online store support. The share of online sales is growing, and businesses understand that without automation it will be hard for them to compete during peak seasons. In the UK and developed economies, holiday automation is already the norm: Christmas campaigns are planned based on CRM systems, and warehouses work like clockwork thanks to robots. There, the focus is shifting to fine-tuning AI for even greater efficiency and finding a balance between technology and the emotional component of the holiday (e.g., customer experience – so that automation does not seem soulless but, on the contrary, helps give joy to the customer).

New Solutions and Prospects.

Looking ahead, further growth in AI use can be expected. In holiday shows, these could be generative visual effects – when AI invents unique patterns for drones or firework colors, optimal for beauty and safety. In marketing – even smarter hyper-personalization: offers formed by a neural network individually according to a person's life situation. In trade – fully autonomous stores for holidays (like Amazon Go), with no cash registers or staff – buyers themselves take goods for the holiday table, and computer vision records everything and automatically debits money.

But the main trend is the growth of speed and scale.Automation allows operating at fundamentally different speeds during the holiday season: launch campaign updates not in days but in hours; deliver not in a day but in hours; show not general advertising but tailored to each individual. Companies that use this gain a competitive advantage. Those who ignore it risk being left behind.

New Year holidays have always been a time of miracles and disruptions (when a product suddenly runs out or a website crashes from traffic). Now, with the help of technology, businesses are increasingly turning pre-New Year chaos into a manageable process,almost like clockwork. And although traditional attributes – Christmas trees, lights, gifts – are still in the spotlight, behind the scenes an army of algorithms and machines works, making these holidays possible on a modern scale. As the experience of 2020–2025 has shown, automation has turned from a competitive advantage into a basic condition for a successful New Year season in any industry – from city authorities organizing shows to an online store selling out goods.

Thus, automation has become an integral part of New Year holidays worldwide. It has helped make holidays brighter, closer, and more convenient for millions of people – and continues to develop, promising even more innovations for the next seasons. This is one of the rare cases where technology truly serves to enhance the festive mood: both the city shines with smart lights, and the phone pleases with personal discounts, and the parcel arrives under the tree on time – largely because smart machines have taken over the routine work.

Data Source: The analytical review is based on open data and cases from the UK, Kazakhstan, and other markets, including information on city expenditures for holidays, marketing campaign statistics, and reports on warehouse and sales automation.