UK Christmas Day spend to hit £1bn for first time - study

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 20, 2018

UK online sales growth in the run-up to Christmas may have been weaker than it has been for some years, but that shouldn’t hold Christmas Day e-spending back with a new prediction that it will reach a significant milestone this year.

Online spend on December 25 is predicted to reach £1 billion for the first time ever and one in every four adults are likely to shop online at some point during the day, according to a study by the Centre for Retail Research.

The smartphone boom will help boost Christmas Day shopping with consumers finding it easier to break off from family festivities by using the device in their pocket rather than getting out their computer.

As much as 70% of all December 25 spend is predicted to be channelled through smartphones with analysts also saying that Christmas Day shopping will get a particular boost this year as shoppers have been waiting for even deeper price cuts than they can already find in-store.

The £1 billion spending prediction comes as web spend on the day reached £895 million last year. This year would see an almost-12% increase if the prediction is accurate. 

The study also said that spending will peak at around 11:00 when gifts have been exchanged and the large number of gift cards purchased this year will be burning a hole in consumers’ pockets, the Telegraph reported.

A further peak should be seen around 17:00 after dinner has been eaten and before the night’s big TV specials are aired.