2026
9
UK Christmas Gift Buying Market Report 2026
2026-02-27T08:00:58+00:00
REP62F70534_C756_46B4_B705_34C756E6B42E
2995
191516
[{"name":"Retail","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/industries\/retail"},{"name":"Market Intelligence Reports","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/report-type\/market-intelligence-reports"},{"name":"UK","url":"https:\/\/store.mintel.com\/markets\/uk-market-research"}]
Report
en_GB
Christmas gift spending in 2025 held steady, rising from £357 to £374, as consumers were determined to have a better Christmas than in 2024, helping gifting remain stable despite ongoing…
UK
Retail
simple

UK Christmas Gift Buying Market Report 2026

"Building on good Christmas 2025 engagement, retailers should prioritise meeting demand for unique and hard-to-find gifts in 2026. Featuring second-hand and locally made products can provide an opportunity."

Emily Viberg, Retail analyst

Emily Viberg, Retail analyst

UK Christmas Retail Overview – Trends and Insights

  • UK Christmas gift spending in 2025 held steady, rising from £357 to £374, as consumers were determined to have a better Christmas than in 2024, helping gifting remain stable despite ongoing inflation in the wide retail sector.
  • At the same time, cost pressures have deepened value-driven behaviour. This is reflected in record engagement with Black Friday as a budgeting tool. In 2025, 72% of shoppers bought Christmas gifts during Black Friday promotions – firmly positioning November as the month for kick-starting Christmas gift buying.
  • But the festive season is becoming increasingly polarised. One in four shoppers now wait until December to begin shopping, continuing the shift away from early ‘Christmas Creep’. Meanwhile, those who start as early as September or before spend significantly more on gifts. This highlights a critical challenge for retailers to strike a careful balance of capturing early gift buyers, while avoiding consumer overwhelm and fuelling festive fatigue.
  • By 2026, retailers that focus on stronger storytelling, personalised experiences, inspiration-driven store layouts, and seamless omnichannel discovery will be best positioned to thrive. As consumers head into the festive season looking for unique and thoughtfully presented gifts, these strategies will be key to capturing their attention and delivering value.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • The implications of consumers leaving gift buying later year-on-year for retailers and their festive strategies.
  • How Black Friday affects Christmas gift shopping and ways for retailers to differentiate themselves.
  • What consumers are looking for from retailers during the Christmas shopping season.
  • Opportunities to enhance the in-store gift shopping experience through curated spaces.
  • Why retailers should consider incorporating second-hand and locally made products into their 2026 Christmas offerings.
  • Artificial Intelligence and live streaming to become key gifting tools.
Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for Christmas 2026
    • Opportunities
    • Livestream shopping will bring gifters closer to smaller brands
    • Go beyond generic AI gifting recommendations
    • Lean on licenced partnerships to create unique product collaborations
    • Manage festive fatigue with caution
    • Time your Christmas promotions just right
  2. THE MARKET

    • Inflation persistent in key festive categories
    • Graph 1: inflation, overall index (CPI) and core categories, October-December 2025
    • A more muted December than expected
    • Graph 2: all retail sales, excluding fuel, non-seasonally adjusted, December 2021-25
    • Strong performance across key categories in December
    • Graph 3: key category performance, non-seasonally adjusted value and volume, December 2025
    • Stores capture the majority of non-food demand
    • Graph 4: estimated share of non-food sales, store versus online and other non-store, 2025
    • Multichannel retailers continue to lead share online sales in Q4
    • Graph 5: share of online sales, by type of retail operation, 2020-25
    • Gifting competes with warmer weather and out-of-home dining
    • Graph 6: challenges to Christmas gift buying behaviours, 2025
    • Directly target Christmas shoppers during Black Friday
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Gift purchasing and spending in 2025
    • Fashion and beauty top gift lists in 2025
    • Gift spending driven by higher earners
    • Graph 7: average spend on Christmas gifts, by household income, 2023-25
    • Higher earners lead secondary gifting
    • November sees Christmas shopping ramp up…
    • Graph 8: when Christmas gift purchasing began, 2022-25
    • …but gift spending starts much earlier
    • Graph 9: which months Christmas gift shopping began and how much they spend, 2025
    • Balance early promotions without feeding festive fatigue
    • Christmas gifting inspiration
    • Nearly half of gift buyers find gifting inspiration in stores
    • More to be done for curated gifting areas in store
    • 16-34s are social-first and AI gift shoppers
    • Graph 10: where gift buyers find inspiration, by age group, 2025
    • Livestream shopping set to become a key gifting tool
    • Higher earners seek inspiration directly from recipients
    • Gift purchasing drivers
    • Gift buyers want unique gifts not found elsewhere
    • 16-34s want quicker and simpler ways to gift
    • Graph 11: what gift buyers want to see more of when gift shopping with retailers, by age group, 2025
    • Higher earners look for unqiue gifts not found elsewhere
    • Graph 12: what gift buyers want to see more of when gift shopping with retailers, 2025
    • Make locally made and second-hand gifts part of gifting USP
    • A focus on unique gifting ideas and ranges
    • A new take on advent calendars unlocks more gifting opportunities
  4. INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Gifting services enhance experience-led shopping
    • Exclusive partnerships give way to more in-store theatre
    • Retailers leverage partnerships to elevate stores
    • John Lewis launches teddy repair service
    • Boots weekly beauty gift sets engaged early Christmas shoppers
    • Elevate the gifting game for a good cause
    • Alternative Christmas baubles were prominent
    • Retailers acknowledge challenging economic backdrop in adverts
    • Episodic approach to adverts builds anticipation
  5. APPENDIX

    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Other data source methodologies
    • Snoop SpendMapper methodology
    • Abbreviations

Market Intelligence Made Easier With Mintel

The first Mintel Market Intelligence report was published over 50 years ago. Since then, we have provided our unique insights and understanding of consumers, innovation and global markets to thousands of customers worldwide. Here’s why our customers rely on Mintel:

  • Gain a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the market: Mintel reports blend consumer research, market forecasts, product innovation tracking, and competitive analysis, allowing businesses to see every angle of their industry and identify new opportunities quickly.
  • Make decisions with confidence, grounded in robust data: Each report draws on up-to-date, reliable information from trusted sources and industry experts, ensuring your strategies are based on solid evidence rather than speculation.
  • Benefit from expert analysis and practical recommendations: Mintel’s reports are written by experienced analysts who interpret complex data and provide clear, actionable insights you can trust to guide your next moves.
  • Stay ahead with actionable intelligence on market trends and consumer behaviour: By combining fresh research with long-term market monitoring, our reports help businesses anticipate changes and adapt strategically. So you’re prepared to make informed decisions and drive growth.

What goes into a Mintel Market Intelligence Report?

Curious about how a Market Intelligence report comes together? We like to think of it as building a detailed puzzle. We start with individual pieces: data from consumers, market statistics, industry trends, and online conversations. Then our expert analysts add world-class human insight and industry knowledge. The pieces are assembled to reveal a clear, comprehensive picture of a market.

The Four Pillars of Our Research

We use a combination of four main research methods when creating our reports, each adding a valuable perspective:

  • Consumer Research: Direct surveys with real people, giving us clear, current insights into what people think and do.
  • Desk Research: In-depth review of trusted data sources. We use this rich database, plus powerful internal tools that track new products and market sizes, to detect trends and guide forecasts.
  • Trade Research: Insights from conversations with industry experts. Their real-world experience helps us understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
  • Brand and Social Media Research: Analysis of online opinions and trends. This lets us spot trends, measure brand sentiment, and capture feedback in real time, adding further depth to our research.

Bringing It All Together

Each of these four pillars provides a different piece of the puzzle. Consumer research tells us what customers think, desk research provides the factual framework, trade research offers an insider’s view, and social media analysis reveals public sentiment.

Our expert analysts are skilled in weaving these diverse data streams together. They apply a range of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques to uncover the deeper story, connecting the dots to deliver clear, actionable insights. This comprehensive, multi-layered process is how we transform raw data into a market intelligence report you can trust to inform your most important business decisions.

$ 2,995 (Excl.Tax)
  • Download today with instant access
  • Multiple formats provided
  • Interactive databook included
  • Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports

Next Starts Here

Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.

Learn more

Trusted by global industry leaders

Deutsch logo

One of the biggest challenges we face is the need to get smart on a business or category real quick.

We are talking to clients who live and breathe their category every day and the expectation is that we will be able to get caught up very quickly, and bring the thinking that can help them.

We need to do that often in a matter of days, so it’s not a small ask. Mintel gives us a very articulate view of category conditions and does so at the speed we need it.

Jeff White, Business Development Director, Deutsch
Abacus logo

There is no question that Mintel is the go-to resource for the best quality market research, but I did not think it was an affordable option for Abacus Marketing to consider. As a small marketing agency, we only work with a few new clients each year.

However, we have a very high-end consultative approach to our work, so we really do need a partner like Mintel to provide the big agency experience we are always aiming to deliver. Our clients come from an incredibly diverse range of industry sectors, so we obviously need access to market research reports from a very wide spectrum of marketplaces – and that is precisely what we got.

Stephen Taylor-Brown, Managing Director, Abacus
Waitrose & Partners logo

We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.

Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.

Zac Steele, E-Commerce Trading Development Manager, Waitrose & Partners
Amazon logo

Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.

Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.

Ngozi Ngonadi-Nkwoji, Senior Marketing Manager, Amazon
Epsilon logo

We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.

By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.

For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.

Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon

Next Starts Here

Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.

Learn more