Haul Videos Halve Their Share of Sponsored Posts as Engagements Slide

Sponsored haul videos have halved their share of paid creator posts in a year, falling from 2.4% of sponsored content in January–September 2025 to 1.2% over the same period in 2026, according to Traackr data pulled exclusively for Business Insider. Unboxings followed the same curve, sliding from 1.3% to 0.7%.

The decline isn't a supply problem. More haul and unboxing posts are being produced this year than in 2025, Traackr found, but overall sponsored-post volume has grown faster. The format is losing share, not output.

The harder number is engagement. CreatorIQ data, also run exclusively for Business Insider, shows sponsored haul posts averaged 5,900 monthly engagements per post in 2022, 2,633 in 2025, and just 1,780 across January through October this year. Likes, comments and shares across all haul and unboxing posts have leveled off over the past year after a period of growth.

What are marketers doing instead?

They're cutting the format and buying stories. "We're doing fewer hauls, fewer unboxings," said Grace Murray Vazquez, an EVP at influencer marketing platform Fohr.

Brands now brief creators on a single product — a pair of boots, an eyeliner — and ask them to argue its value. "That whole 'styling 10 dresses in one Reel' is really outdated," said Amanda Acevedo, director of talent at G&B Digital Management, who estimates she once received 10 haul-style outreach requests a month for fashion and makeup videos. She can't recall the last one.

Lucy Kruszynski, global head of brand at Buttermilk, puts the old economics bluntly: "The volume of what someone had bought was the story. The bigger the bag in the thumbnail, the higher the views." Her briefs now favor "cost-per-wear breakdowns, wardrobe re-styling, genuinely useful recommendations, product demonstrations, and creators explaining why something has earned a permanent place in their routine."

Julia Comil, a creator who promotes luxury items, said brands used to request haul-style videos but lately ask for "more creative ones, with storytelling." A recent Instagram Reel for a Longchamp bucket bag follows her through a day, showing the bag's versatility. "When you do the haul, you don't have any storytelling," she said. "I think for clothing when you're in the high-end business, you need to create an emotion with the clothing." These videos cost her more — she hires a videographer — but she says they earn more views and drive more sales.

Why are audiences tuning out?

The explanations stack up:

• Fatigue with being constantly pitched as the format mushroomed
• The "underconsumption core" and "deinfluencing" trends pushing back on shopping culture
• Inflation: 59% of holiday shoppers surveyed in October by Harris Poll expect to make financial trade-offs this season
• Savvier consumers who are "being more selective," in the words of Natasha Valerie, cofounder of The Viralist Group

"It's a simple thing for people to skip away from," Murray Vazquez said, "when they're not in a place to purchase 10 things." Lily Comba, CEO of Superbloom, added: "They don't want to feel like they're constantly being sold to."

Brands are responding with looser briefs, betting that organic-feeling videos convert better. The rise of short-form video hasn't helped longer haul formats either.

Is the format dead?

Not quite. TikTok Shop, whose US sales have eclipsed Target.com's, still drives purchases through unboxing and product-led content, according to Kruszynski. Valerie said product videos work when there's surprise, or the item sits beyond most viewers' reach. "They're getting a glimpse into a lifestyle they wouldn't have access to," she said.

The holiday season will be the stress test. "That'll be a key indicator if it underperforms in its strongest time period," said Alex Rawitz, director of research and insights at CreatorIQ. Creator commerce, in short, is maturing — higher bar for sponsored content, potentially more valuable creators.