The tradition of Christmas catalogs dates back to the 19th century. Originating alongside the growing consumer culture of the era, they’ve firmly established themselves as a vital marketing tool.
The next year’s landscape is quickly being defined by retailers executing a hybrid sales model to meet the needs of a consumer who is both online and increasingly offline.
While mobile devices are predicted to account for nearly 70% of shopping traffic, the printed catalog remains significant for engagement.
For example, consumers spend an average of 15.5 minutes browsing a physical catalog, which drives better brand recall compared to fleeting digital ads.
In our Christmas catalogs guide, we will walk you through the top picks for 2026, the shift toward hybrid formats, and how to leverage these tools for holiday success.
Best Christmas Catalogs: Key Highlights
- High Engagement & AOV: Catalog households spend 2.5X more than digital-only consumers, with print influencing 50–60% of online sales.
- Early Timing: With 45% of consumers shopping before November, catalogs must be designed and distributed by early October.
- Digital Integration: successful 2026 catalogs bridge the gap using QR codes and AR to connect physical browsing with mobile purchasing.
The Top Christmas Catalogs for 2026
Below is our curated selection of the best holiday catalogs available this season.
We have categorized them to help you find exactly what you need, from toys to luxury decor.
These selections represent the gold standard in holiday marketing and gift inspiration.
- Toys & Interactive: Amazon Holiday Kids Gift Book, Walmart Top Toys, Target Bullseye List, LEGO, Toys ‘R’ Us (Legacy/Digital).
- Decor & Home: Balsam Hill, Lillian Vernon, Bronner’s, Miles Kimball, The Christmas Palace, Käthe Wohlfahrt.
- Food & Gourmet: Swiss Colony, See’s Candies, Wolferman’s Bakery, Harry & David, Goldbelly.
- Luxury: Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, Restoration Hardware, Williams Sonoma, Bloomingdale’s, The Bradford Exchange.
- Apparel: Lands’ End, Southern Tide, Victoria’s Secret (Legacy), Banana Republic, L.L. Bean.
- Educational/STEM: Rainbow Resource Center, Lakeshore Learning, Mindware, Fat Brain Toys, HearthSong.
- Curated Digital Lists: Google Holiday 100, Oprah’s Favorite Things, Amazon Toys We Love.
How To Choose the Best Christmas Catalogs for 2026
Selecting the right catalog mix depends on your goals and your recipient.
For high-value clients, aspirational catalog styles, like Restoration Hardware, usually work best. They function as coffee-table pieces that maintain brand visibility for months.
For value-conscious parents, mass merchant lists are essential. Target and Walmart emphasize value and exclusives to drive traffic. These catalogs are best used to compare prices and find “must-have” toys.
Timing is also a critical factor for 2026. With 45% of shopping starting before November, the early distribution window is vital.
However, nearly 20% of shopping happens in the last three weeks, so late-season digital catalogs must reflect “pickup available” messaging.
Why Christmas Catalogs Remain Influential
The 2025/2026 holiday retail season is characterized by a consumer who is cautious about spending yet engaged across multiple channels. Print catalogs uniquely serve the higher-funnel awareness and consideration stages.
Emotional branding proves critical here for converting interest into long-term customer loyalty with the power of print.
A key factor in why digital’s influence is dwindling when compared to print is attention span. Customers tend to scroll past digital ads since they are usually repetitive and pushy.
By lieu of it being physical, a catalog encourages lingering, and maintains browsing time.
Furthermore, the viability of the classic, high-circulation print catalog is evolving due to postal rate increases. Innovative retailers now actively bridge print and digital by using QR codes.
These hybrid formats allow for instant purchasing while maintaining the tactile experience of a traditional booklet or magazine.
Toys and Interactive Gifts
Toys and interactive gifts catalogs are driven by high volume, fast turnover, and kid-driven wish lists.
While the purchasing power lies with parents, the demand is generated by children who pore excitedly over these pages.
The toy market also heavily relies on licensed products, with 37% of toys sold featuring beloved characters from movies and games.
Parent-driven buying in this sector is also shifting toward purposeful play. 63% of millennial parents consider social, emotional, and mental health benefits when shopping.
Consequently, Christmas toy catalogs for 2026 must balance flashy entertainment with value-driven messaging.
Leading Toy & Interactive Gift Catalogs
- Amazon’s 2025 Holiday Kids Gift Book: This is a full-color physical book that blends browsing with interactive digital experiences. It features major brands like Ms. Rachel, Barbie, and American Girl. The catalog effectively transforms a passive activity into an interactive adventure.
- Walmart 2025 Top Toys List: Walmart features 50 must-have gifts, emphasizing extreme value. They focus on exclusive licensed products like the Minecraft Battle Mode Great Hog Action Figure. This list is released early to capture the “early bird” parent demographic.
- Target’s Bullseye’s Top Toys List: This highly influential list includes over 60 items. Target secures market share by maximizing inventory exclusivity. Crucially for 2026, over half the assortment is priced under $20 to appeal to budget-conscious shoppers.
- LEGO Catalog: Sent out quarterly, this remains a staple for Christmas gift catalogs. The brand offers both nostalgic collector sets for adults and exciting builds for kids. New entries include the exclusive LEGO Record Player with Flowers 3-in-1 Building Set.
- Toys ‘R’ Us “Big Book”: While the physical footprint has changed, the legacy of the “Big Book” remains iconic. It set the standard for the industry in the ’80s and ’90s. Modern iterations continue to influence how digital toy lists are structured today.
Christmas Decor and Home Accents
Ornaments, trees, wreaths, and home ambiance are all essential parts of the Christmas spirit.
Driven by emotional buying, collectible items, and family tradition, retailers in this space often see high repeat order rates as families look to add to their collections annually.
Demand in 2026 is rising for eco-friendly stockings and gift bags made from cotton or linen.
Personalization is also a massive driver for Christmas decoration catalogs, and retailers like Lillian Vernon offer free personalization to provide the added value cautious consumers are seeking.
Top Christmas Decor Catalogs
- Balsam Hill Holiday Catalog: Balsam Hill focuses on superior quality and high-realism imagery. They feature lifelike artificial Christmas trees with the latest lighting technology. The catalog uses high-resolution photography to showcase the texture of needles and glass ornaments.
- Lillian Vernon Final Christmas 2025: This catalog specializes in personalized gifts and elegant holiday décor. They leverage free personalization to create heirloom-worthy keepsakes. It appeals strongly to the sentimental shopper looking for unique family items.
- Bronner’s Christmas Favorites Catalog: Bronner’s is a deep niche specialist distributing nearly 3 million copies annually. They focus strictly on specialized products like Nativity scenes and lights. Their scale allows them to offer an unparalleled variety of specific holiday themes.
- The Christmas Palace: This retailer specializes in high-end decor, including life-size nutcrackers and Santas. They support larger purchases with installment payment options. This makes them a key player for those looking for buy-now-pay-later Christmas catalogs options.
- Käthe Wohlfahrt of America This catalog showcases traditional German imports. Items include handcrafted German nutcrackers, Christmas pyramids, and music boxes. It serves a specific audience looking for authentic European holiday traditions.
Gourmet Food and Confectionery
Food and beverages are now firmly a top gift consideration, purchased by 34% of holiday shoppers. Consumables, seasonal flavors, and corporate gifting, these catalogs drive impulse purchasing through limited-time seasonal imagery.
Packaging is often designed to serve the need for ready-to-gift solutions.
Christmas candy catalogs must emphasize the “yum factor” through photography and the product received must match the appetizing image on the page.
Leading Food & Confectionery Catalogs
- The Swiss Colony Historically known for specialty foods like gingerbread houses and petits fours. They have mastered the art of the appetizing spread. Their catalog structure encourages building a multi-item order for varied recipients.
- See’s Candies Christmas Chocolate Gifts See’s focuses on high-quality, consumable gifts. They leverage seasonal flavors like Egg Nog Truffles to create urgency. The photography emphasizes the rich textures of chocolate and caramel.
- Harry & David Holiday A major brand in the gourmet food space known for the “Tower of Treats.” They offer gift items ranging from chocolates to perishable fruit. Their catalog creates a sense of premium gifting suitable for business partners.
- Wolferman’s Bakery Gift Guide Prioritizes convenience and curated selections of specialty breakfast items. Their Deluxe Towers are positioned as perfect family gifts. The layout focuses on the abundance and variety within each gift basket.
Luxury and Aspirational Holiday Catalogs
Luxury catalogs are designed to create the “fantasy” wish lists. They are characterized by trend-setting layouts and premium photography to show off their unique and luxury products.
For example, Restoration Hardware has defied the digital shift by doubling down on print, with creating their catalogs like coffee table books than disposable mailers.
In fact, company executives credit these “source books” for “generating up to $700 million in sales”.
Leading Luxury & Aspirational Catalogs
- Neiman Marcus Christmas Book: Famous for its “Fantasy Gifts” section, published annually since 1926. It features outrageous, exclusive, high-ticket items like custom portraits. The book generates massive PR buzz and establishes high brand equity.
- Restoration Hardware (RH): These resemble phone book-sized luxury interior design tomes. They use sensual imagery and sheer physicality to attract high-AOV clientele. The paper weight used communicates luxury before the book is even opened.
- Williams Sonoma Holiday Catalog: The benchmark for luxury home goods and culinary gifts. They focus on premium goods, preparedness, and high-AOV items. The layout blends product selling with lifestyle inspiration and recipes.
- Bloomingdale’s 2025 Gift Guide: Targets the affluent customer with luxury apparel and unique finds. The presentation is aspirational, focusing on fashion-forward trends. It positions the brand as a curator of style rather than just a retailer.
General Merchandise & Traditional Wish Books
These catalogs defined generations of holiday shopping in America. They feature a broad product range, nationwide mailing, and deep nostalgia.
Historically, catalogs like Sears were the “Amazon of their time.”
The “Wish Book” was often two books in one. Kids would start from the back where the toys were, while adults browsed the front.
Today, this format persists in mass-market retailers and digital archives.
Leading General Merchandise Catalogs
- Sears Wish Book (Historical) The iconic book that sold everything from toys to kit homes. It set the template for the general merchandise catalog. While defunct, its layout style influences modern “big book” designs.
- JCPenney Christmas Catalog Another historical heavyweight that featured vast assortments. It combined fashion, tools, and toys in one massive volume. It served as a primary shopping method for rural families.
- Montgomery Ward Produced one of the original mail-order catalogs starting in 1872. They offered general goods including bikes and electronics. Their legacy established the viability of the remote shopping model.
Specialty Apparel and Lifestyle Catalogs
Clothing and footwear remain top choices, purchased by 47% of gift buyers.
The apparel industry is rapidly embracing interactive online christmas catalogs, including 360° views and real-time inventory levels to replace static lookbooks.
Brand positioning is reinforced through the quality of the print. A sustainable brand might opt for recycled paper and earthy tones. This tactile element reinforces the commitment to quality that digital screens cannot convey.
Leading Apparel/Lifestyle Catalogs
- Lands’ End Holiday Catalog Maintains a strong tradition of mailers focused on seasonal comfort. Features items like flannel pajamas and personalized embroidered goods. The photography emphasizes family and cozy holiday settings.
- Southern Tide 2025 Gift Guides Focuses on premium, coastal-inspired apparel for the whole family. Their guides are segmented for him, her, and kids to simplify shopping. They promote “guest-ready” bedding alongside their apparel.
- L.L. Bean Catalogs A lifestyle giant that includes food, clothing, and bedding in its holiday mix. The catalog promotes an outdoor-centric holiday lifestyle. Their consistent branding makes them a trusted source for practical gifts.
Educational and STEM Toy Catalogs
This category focuses on skill-building toys and Montessori items.
Parents are valuing these types of toys more and more for their developmental benefits and screen-free play potential.
The layout of these catalogs differs from mass-market toy books.
They frequently use cleaner, text-heavy descriptions to explain the educational value, with the focus being on “learning through play” rather than character licensing.
Top Educational/STEM Catalogs
- Rainbow Resource Center A massive 144-page catalog focused on educational games and puzzles. They value gifts that go beyond the box to create lasting memories. It is a go-to resource for homeschooling families and educators.
- Lakeshore Learning Offers teaching materials, science kits, and school furniture. They cater to the need for items with a specific learning element. The catalog is organized by age and developmental skill set.
- Mindware Focuses specifically on STEM-based toys and brain teasers. Their selection emphasizes logic, engineering, and creative problem-solving. The catalog photography shows children actively engaged in building or solving.
- Fat Brain Toys Features toys geared toward learning based on age and ability. They are known for unique, non-licensed toys that spark curiosity. Their catalog often includes customer reviews and age ratings.
Unique, Niche, and Miscellaneous Christmas Catalogs
There are also many catalogs catering to quirky, unusual, or hyper-specialized items. The appeal lies in the novelty factor.
Deep niche focus remains viable, with some retailers maintaining loyalty since the 1950s.
Interactive features are increasingly common in this sector.
Digital versions for collectibles use pop-up galleries to show fine details, providing an immersive experience without the need to zoom in on a static PDF.
Top Niche Catalogs
- Precious Moments Christmas Catalog Focuses on festive limited edition figurines. The interactive digital version uses embedded forms for ordering. It connects emotionally with collectors looking for specific annual pieces.
- Current Catalog A source for budget-friendly, unique gift ideas like calendars. They offer “Dollar Deals” and BOGO offers to attract value shoppers. It serves as a resource for stocking stuffers and office gifts.
- Miles Kimball Known for whimsical items and the iconic Gaggleville Goose outfits. They offer a mix of holiday décor and practical home solutions. Their catalog has a distinct personality that appeals to loyal, long-term customers.
Non-Retail Curated Lists
The strategic function of a catalog has expanded to encompass data-driven lists. These are frequently updated and prioritize market relevance over static displays.
They rely heavily on algorithmic personalization and mobile accessibility.
AI tools are now used to help customers navigate these vast selections. Tier 1 Mass Merchants use these tools to help parents find the perfect gift. This shifts the catalog from a sales tool to a utility.
Top Curated Lists
- Google Holiday 100: A dynamic, algorithmically curated list based on search trends. It reflects real-time popularity for items like the Pixel Watch. This list captures the “zeitgeist” of the 2026 holiday season.
- Oprah’s Favorite Things 2025: A highly influential, curated list that acts as a kingmaker for small brands. It is often cited in other gift guides and morning shows. The selection ranges from affordable treats to high-end luxuries.
- Amazon’s Toys We Love List: Functions as a curated compilation of trending toys across categories. It leverages AI tools like Rufus to recommend gifts. This digital list complements their physical book by offering real-time pricing.
Read More: How To Select the Right Paper Size for Your Project
Print Your Christmas Catalogs With ChilliPrinting
ChilliPrinting is an online printing service specializing in high-quality, cost-effective solutions for a wide range of organizations and individuals across the US.
We understand that a holiday catalog is more than just paper. It is your primary sales tool for the season.
Whether you need a high-gloss toy book or a matte-finish luxury guide, we have the expertise to deliver.
We offer:
- Extensive Size Selection: From compact niche brochures to oversized luxury formats, we can print the perfect fit for your design.
- Premium Paper & Finishes: Choose from a variety of weights and coatings to match your brand’s aesthetic and durability needs.
- Reliable Delivery: Our efficient catalog printing process ensures your materials are produced and shipped on schedule to catch the early shopper.
Get your holiday catalogs printed to perfection and delivered on time with ChilliPrinting!
Design Your Holiday Catalog in Minutes.
