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