Discounting days and buy now pay later services shine as Brits spend £24.4bn online over holiday period

Adobe reports that UK shoppers spent £24.4 billion online over the holiday season (1st November – 31st December), up 3.7% YoY, with the majority of this focused on major discounting days Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day.

This brought total online spending in 2023 to £111.2 billion.

Its data also shows that Brits splashed out £3.3 billion using buy now pay later (BNPL) services over the season, taking the total amount spent using BNPL in 2023 to £16.8 billion. 

The most popular products included: cookware sets and small kitchen appliances, personal care products like face creams and lotions, jewellery, puzzles and card games, Jellycat stuffed toys, micro scooters, Bluetooth headphones, smart home items, travel and handbags, coffee machines, perfumes and video games and consoles.  

Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, comments: “After a slow start to 2023 from an online spending perspective, our data shows spend accelerating towards the end of the year, peaking over the holiday period to end the year on a high.”

“Overall, online spending grew by 3.7% in 2023 compared with 2022, but much of this growth is propped up by deep discounting from retailers and growth in the use of BNPL services showing consumers are still keeping a close eye on their finances.” 

Pandya adds: "Amidst evolving shopping habits, the 2023 data reflects a shift in consumer behaviour.”

“While overall online spending saw a marginal decline of 1.3% year-over-year, we also saw a 12.8% increase in UK shoppers utilising BNPL services, amounting to £16.8 billion in 2023. This highlights the growing adoption of BNPL, as consumers seek out flexible payment methods.” 

The Adobe Digital Insights team use Adobe Analytics to analyse hundreds of millions of visits to retail sites from UK consumers over the holiday season, tracking the prices of 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories.