Brits spend £8.47 billion online in January as shoppers make a healthy start to the new year
UK online spending hit £8.47 billion in January, up 0.9% year-on-year, as shoppers splashed out on fitness equipment (up 73% compared to normal levels), health and nutrition products (up 42%), and apparel (up 23%), according to research by Adobe Digital Insights.
“As well as looking after their finances, our data also shows that consumers are making a healthy start to the new year, with fitness apparel, sporting goods, and wellness supplements all performing well,” says Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights.
“Traffic from GenAI sources to retail sites also continued to grow in January, with many UK shoppers turning their health and wellness searches into purchases. By supporting product pages and offers with more informative content, retailers will rank more favourably in GenAI recommendations.”
AI
Traffic to retail sites from AI sources (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini) was up 269% YoY. The most popular categories for GenAI shopping in January include personal care products, electronics, jewellery, health and wellness products, sporting goods and apparel.
BNPL
UK consumers spent £1.21 billion via buy now pay later services in January, representing 14.2% of spending for the month, down 3.9% YoY.
RTIH AI in Retail Awards
Brarista, IBM Consulting, Foundit!, Quorso, Vusion, Sensei, Reckon.ai, EE, Walkbase, Globant, Riskified, and Goddiva were among the winners at the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by VenHub Global, 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.
Our 2026 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Lucy Porter.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “According to Amazon’s Andy Jassy: AI is a once in a lifetime reinvention of everything we know, and the largest technology transformation since the cloud.”
“Whether that’s overstating it or not, we're certainly seeing an increasing number of innovative, potentially game changing developments in this space across both traditional and digital retail spaces. And that is reflected in tonight's finalists, who are boosting customer experiences and tackling retailers' painpoints across the likes of physical stores, online, omnichannel, supply chain, and payments.”
“To quote one of our judges: I have to admit, judging these awards was so difficult. So many that would have been worthy winners. And great to see how AI has moved firmly into delivery mode. Firmly into delivering for customers and driving huge innovation.”
Congratulations to our 2026 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended our Thursday, 29th January gathering.
Stay tuned for an indepth review of the awards ceremony in the next edition of RTIH magazine.
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