Adobe: Heavy discounting key as UK shoppers spend £110.6 billion online in 2022

Adobe has released UK online retail insights for the 2022 calendar year.

Based on Adobe Analytics data, the report covers tens of billions of visits to UK retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

The total amount spent online by consumers decreased by 8.6% compared to 2021, falling to £110.6 billion last year.

Despite the decline in annual spending – primarily driven by heavy discounting from retailers and consumers seeking out deals in response to the cost-of-living crisis – basket sizes grew.

The average number of items in each online order increased from 3.3 in 2021 to 3.4 in 2022.

According to Adobe, this points to a growing consumer preference for shopping online, notably during a year when physical retail rebounded strongly after extended Covid-19 restrictions. Online spending increased by 42.3% compared with 2019, the last year with no restrictions on retailers.

While online spending was lower across 2022 compared with 2021, December figures showed more positive signs of spending acceleration, with a lower year-over-year (YoY) decrease of just 7.4% compared with October and November, when inflation and rising energy costs influenced a more pronounced 11.3% drop relative to the same period in 2021.

During the Christmas shopping period (1st November – 31st December), consumers spent a total of £22.4 billion online, a 10.1% YoY drop. Compared with December 2019’s pre-Covid figures, December 2022 online spending grew by 17%.

“While UK consumers spent less in 2022, our data shows that on average they bought more items, as they took advantage of discounts offered by retailers and hunted down bargains.,” says Suzanne Steele, Vice President and Managing Director for Adobe in the UK.

“The digital economy remains strong, but to weather the cost-of-living crisis in 2023, businesses must be mindful of how they price and promote products and services to increasingly cost-conscious consumers.”

upwardly mobile

Mobile was the most dominant online shopping channel in 2022, with 56.8% of purchases taking place on smartphones – a 10.9% YoY increase in share.

Overall, consumers spent £62.8 billion from the palms of their hands during the year, £13.2 billion of which was splashed out in November and December.