Haul videos lose sponsored-post share as brands pivot

Hauls accounted for 2.4% of sponsored posts from January through September 2025, but only 1.2% during the same period in 2026, according to Traackr data. Sponsored unboxing videos fell from 1.3% to 0.7%, weakening a format that once offered creators an inexpensive route into brand partnerships.

The smaller share does not mean production stopped. Traackr found that overall sponsored-post volume grew rapidly and that more haul and unboxing posts were produced in 2026 than in 2025; the formats now make up less of a larger paid-content market.

Audience response has flattened. CreatorIQ data showed likes, comments and shares across haul and unboxing posts leveled off over the past year after earlier growth. Sponsored hauls averaged 2,633 monthly engagements per post in 2025, down to 1,780 from January through October 2026, versus 5,900 in 2022.

The figures show declines in sponsored-category share and engagement, not a platform policy change or proven cause. The datasets omit reach, campaign cost and return on investment, so they cannot show every haul lost money or identify a single cause.

What does this change for brand and creator budgets?

Historically, haul videos put quantity at the center. Brands and retailers sponsored them or paid creators for sales, creating a low-cost on-ramp into the creator economy. Buttermilk global head of brand Lucy Kruszynski said: “The volume of what someone had bought was the story.” “The bigger the bag in the thumbnail, the higher the views,” she added.

Fohr EVP Grace Murray Vazquez said: “We're doing fewer hauls, fewer unboxings.” Brands increasingly want products integrated into a story rather than displayed as a pile.

Amanda Acevedo, director of talent at G&B Digital Management, used to receive 10 haul-style fashion or makeup requests each month. She cannot now recall the latest one; brands are asking for one product, such as boots or eyeliner, with its value emphasized. Her verdict: “That whole ‘styling 10 dresses in one Reel’ is really outdated.”

For practitioners, this supports shifting budget from product piles toward focused demonstrations and context, not simply fewer branded posts. With no campaign-cost or return-on-investment figures, brands should set their own baselines and assess production value rather than assume more products deliver more reach.

Why are creators moving toward storytelling?

Kruszinski said: “We're seeing a broader shift towards content that gives people a reason to care about a product beyond the fact that it's new.” She cited cost-per-wear calculations, wardrobe re-styling, useful recommendations, product demonstrations and explanations of why an item deserves a permanent place in a creator's routine.

Luxury creator Julia Comil now receives requests for “more creative ones, with storytelling,” rather than haul-style treatments. In a recent Instagram Reel, she follows a Longchamp bucket bag through her day to show its versatility.

Comil said storytelling creates emotion in high-end fashion. Her newer videos cost more because she hires a videographer, but she reports more views and stronger sales.

Why are audiences tuning out?

Creator and marketer accounts point to overlapping explanations, not confirmed causes:

• Audience fatigue. As haul content multiplied, viewers may feel perpetually pitched. The “underconsumption core” (a pushback against overconsumption) and “deinfluencing” (reduced pressure to buy) movements also challenge online-shopping culture.
• Tighter budgets. Inflation has led some consumers to trade down or skip splurges. A Harris Poll found that 59% of holiday shoppers surveyed in October expected financial trade-offs; Fohr's Murray Vazquez said people can “skip away” when they are “not in a place to purchase 10 things.”
• Ad resistance and shorter attention. Superbloom CEO Lily Comba said people do not want to feel “constantly being sold to.” The Viralist Group cofounder Natasha Valerie said viewers encounter ads daily and become more selective, while the rise of short-form video can discourage longer hauls.

Brands now use looser briefs, hoping a more organic delivery will resonate and convert better. The practitioner accounts align with the datasets but do not prove causation.

Will hauls disappear?

The format still has a commercial use case. TikTok Shop's US sales have eclipsed Target.com's, and its in-app purchasing makes product-led and unboxing content easier to convert, Kruszynski said.

Valerie said product-focused videos can work when they include surprise, an interesting item or access to a lifestyle most viewers lack. The holiday season, when haul prevalence spikes, becomes the next test.

CreatorIQ research and insights director Alex Rawitz said: “That'll be a key indicator if it underperforms in its strongest time period.” If engagement remains below 2025 levels then, the decline would look more structural; a seasonal rebound would preserve the format.

The broader shift suggests creator commerce (brands paying creators for sales) is maturing as selective audiences reward trusted creators. Holiday results will show whether story-led content has replaced the haul as a standard brief or merely reset it.