UK shoppers spent big online during the 2024 holiday season, shelling out £25.8 billion between November 1 and December 31 — a 5.9% jump from last year and £1.4 billion more than 2023. Fueled by major discounts and seasonal sales, the holiday surge helped push total UK online spending for the year to £115.3 billion, up 3.7% year over year.

Shoppers didn’t just spend big this holiday season — they did it from their phones. A massive £14.5 billion was spent via mobile during the 2024 holiday season, up 7.4% year over year. Mobile made up 56% of total online spending, demonstrating once again that holiday shopping is increasingly happening through screens.

Cyber Week (Black Friday – Cyber Monday) delivered £3.6 billion in online sales — up 5.2% year over year, with Black Friday leading the charge. Black Friday pulled in £1.12 billion, making it the biggest online shopping day in the UK since 2021 as shoppers flocked online in record volumes to snag the best deals.

Londoners helped fuel overall growth this season as they spent £3.73 billion online — up 6.5% year over year. Black Friday was again the standout, with £271.8 million spent (+8.3% YoY), followed by Cyber Monday at £167.8 million (+6.2% YoY). Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) also made waves in the capital, with patrons spending £28.5 million through the payment service on Black Friday (+17.3% YoY), and £27.7 million on Cyber Monday (+4.5% YoY).

Discounts drive demand as price sensitivity hits new highs.

Shoppers scored deeper deals this year, with average online discounts hitting 7.3%, up from 7% in 2023. The biggest markdowns in 2024 were seen in computers (12.2% off), electronics (9.3% off), and personal care products (7.5% off). With price sensitivity on the rise, those discounts further boosted spending. Price sensitivity — consumers’ responsiveness to discounts jumped 4.7% adding an extra £220 million to online sales from November to December. Combined with steeper discounts, that helped drive a 23.7% uptick in daily holiday season spending compared to October averages.

It wasn’t just about bargains; shoppers treated themselves this holiday season too. Sales of premium products (the most expensive 25% of items) surged by 17.8% compared to October — up from 12.4% last year. From high end tech to luxury goods, consumers were willing to pay more for quality.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) keeps booming.

BNPL services played a major role this holiday season, with spending hitting £3.6 billion, accounting for nearly 14% of total online spend — up 9.1% from last year. December saw usage peak as shoppers leaned on BNPL to snag Cyber Weekend deals. For the full year, BNPL spending reached £17.6 billion, up 4.8% from 2023.

Generative AI powers holiday shoppers.

Generative AI exploded onto the shopping scene this holiday season. Traffic from AI-powered tools to retail sites jumped an incredible 26x year over year, as consumers turned to Gen AI LLMs and recommendation engines to find the perfect gifts and the best prices.

Additional Highlights:

Influencers drive sales: Affiliates and social media partners drove 18.9% of online holiday revenue, up 3.9% year over year.

Shoppers embrace click and collect: Click and Collect was used in 10.7% of orders, up from 8.4% in 2023 — a sign that hybrid shopping habits are here to stay.

The gifts that ruled 2024: Top sellers included jewellery, gift cards, fragrance sets, smart TVs, laptops and gaming consoles. Popular toys included LEGO sets, plush toys, and Tonies Audio Play Figurines.

Adobe Digital Insights has been a leader in tracking the digital economy since 2013. Adobe Digital Insights offers the most comprehensive analysis of its kind based on trillions of visits and billions of transactions across the web. With the breadth and depth of our data, we are uniquely positioned to understand the economy, customer journeys and use of creative AI.

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