January has a familiar feel. New Year’s resolutions, made in good faith, are beginning to wobble, and new gym memberships are already collecting dust. But behind a familiar start to 2026 lies a very different story about how a record-breaking 2025 ended.

New data from Adobe Digital Insights, powered by Adobe Analytics, shows that, during November and December 2025, UK shoppers splashed a record £26.9 billion online (up 4.1% from 2024), signalling the highest online spending Christmas period on record.

Across 2025, online spend reached £118.5 billion, up 2.8% on 2024 – another record-breaker. That annual growth may look modest at first glance, but it masks a strong finish.

The impressive performance over the festive period was driven by sharper discounts, budget-busting spending on key days, and a noticeable shift in how people researched and bought products.

GenAI is now part of the shopping routine

One of the clearest signals from this year’s data is how rapidly GenAI is moving from novelty to habit.

Traffic to retail sites from AI sources grew 329% year-over-year during the holiday period, with AI-driven referrals on Boxing Day up 685% on 2024 figures. While the overall numbers are still relatively small, the direction of travel is pretty conclusive: More shoppers are using GenAI tools to research products, compare options, and hunt for deals before they ever land on a retail site.

What matters more than where AI shows up is how it’s being used. Shoppers are increasingly trusting these tools to help them make informed purchases, using them to compare options, weigh up value, and make confident decisions before they buy.

As more AI services add shopping features and integrations, this behaviour is only going to accelerate in 2026. For retailers, that means visibility within these tools is becoming just as important as visibility in search or social feeds.

Mobile experience still makes or breaks conversion

Clearly, GenAI is setting the benchmark for how quickly online shoppers expect to move. By the time a shopper clicks through to a retail site from tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, they’re often already in ‘buy mode’. They’ve done their research, and the retailer’s site is purely for the purchase. Barriers to making the purchase, like long registration journeys or extra steps before reaching the checkout can quickly kill this positive momentum and see the sale head somewhere else.

Our research shows many of these journeys are now happening on mobile. During the holiday period, £16.5 billion was spent on mobile devices, rising 14.1% from 2024 and accounting for 61.5% of total online spend. While online spending on mobile devices has outstripped desktop or laptop spending in the UK for several years, the rise of GenAI search means the context has changed. Mobile experiences now need to match the speed and simplicity of the discovery tools (increasingly GenAI) that lead shoppers there in the first place.

Big sales days inspire shopper confidence

Black Friday once again stood out as the single biggest online shopping day of the year, with £1.16 billion spent. Cyber Weekend delivered £3.8 billion, and Boxing Day passed £500 million as shoppers shifted from buying gifts for others to searching for gifts for themselves.

What makes these ‘eventised’ shopping moments most interesting is the behaviour behind them. Across the year, consumers are highly price driven, often trading down and searching for the cheapest option. During the holiday period, and especially on major sales days, that mindset shifts.

Our data shows that when the price is right, shoppers are happy to trade-up to more premium items.  The deeper discounts on offer over the holiday period and the increased sense of urgency over Cyber Weekend, prompted shoppers to go for the best they could afford rather than the cheapest they could find.  Across November and December Adobe Analytics data shows the share of the most expensive items sold across different categories was 14% higher compared with the rest of 2025.

Where UK retailers stand heading into 2026

The UK retail picture at the end of 2025 is one of deliberate, informed shoppers who are ready to spend (and in some cases, spend big), but only when the conditions, value and experience feels right. Retailers that understand those moments and meet those expectations will be set up for success in 2026.

You can find these insights and more here.

Vivek is a leading insights analyst who has worked with some of the largest CPG & Technology organizations, in the world, to drive key digital marketing & data science initiatives. As the Director for Adobe Digital Insights (ADI), he launched & spearheads the popular Adobe DEI (Digital Economy Index) & Holiday Retail reports, as well as other industry reports that profile emerging technology, creativity, and travel trends. Prior to joining Adobe, Vivek worked with E. & J. Gallo, where he was part of their Consumer & Product Insights Group, advising brands on how to track and measure the impact of global marketing campaigns. Additionally, Vivek has lead data science teams to develop effective propensity models and automate digital campaign management. Vivek holds a MS in Predictive Analytics and Data Science from Northwestern University and BBA from Georgia State University.

https://business.adobe.com/fragments/resources/cards/thank-you-collections/digital-insights