An interesting new study about Golden Quarter spending has shown a “striking recalibration in UK fashion spend”. It comes from digital commerce platform Cardlytics and highlights the growing importance of secondhand and the evolution of Black Friday.

Based on transaction insights from over 23 million UK bank accounts and new research conducted with Opinium, the report shows how consumers are changing their purchasing habits across the Golden Quarter. 

Key findings include the fact that online fast fashion may be up 40.7% vs 2022, but growth slowed in 2024 to ‘only’ 14.7% so we could be heading towards some sort of plateau.

High street fashion spend grew modestly in the quarter last year (+3.6%), while luxury and designer fashion plunged 18.7%, leaving the category more than 11% below 2022 levels. That was a clear reflection of the luxury downturn that was most pronounced last year so it will be interesting to see what happens this year.

Importantly too, 62% of consumers have bought or would consider buying secondhand fashion, signalling a major mainstream shift toward resale and for Christmas, nearly one in five (18%) plan to use secondhand or resale platforms, while only 8% will buy luxury or designer gifts.

Cardlytics also said that shoppers are moving away from single-day events, with only 11% saying they shop primarily on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, as spend on surrounding weekends is now “significantly higher”.

Gifting is getting more selective as over half (53%) of consumers will choose something personal or practical.

Overall, Cardlytics said “the 2025 Golden Quarter will be defined by early action, tighter planning, and more selective spending”.

Lucy Whittemore, SVP UK Partnerships at Cardlytics, said: “We’ll see strong spending from consumers across the Golden Quarter, but it will be more considered, more distributed, and more value-driven than ever before. Shoppers are planning earlier, acting smarter, and backing brands that deliver on relevance, not just price. For marketers, it’s less about relying on key retail moments like Black Friday and more about sustaining engagement with customers throughout the entire festive period.”

Digging into the details

Looking more closely at some of the findings shows clear changes. Of Black Friday’s evolution, Cardlytics said this day — and Cyber Monday — “are still key moments for consumers, but their impact has softened as spending spreads across the season”. In 2024, spend on the Saturday after Black Friday was up 27%, and the strongest single day of spend came a full week after Cyber Monday — showing that shoppers are changing how they respond to these fixed timed events.

Polling supports the shift: only 11% of respondents said they make most of their purchases on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, while 47% planned to spread spend across the full promotional window. Nearly one-third (30%) will complete their festive shopping before Black Friday even begins.

As for gifting, the data shows that consumer spending is “concentrating around categories that feel meaningful or useful – and moving away from those that don’t”. For instance, books, beauty, and DIY have continued to grow across the Golden Quarter, while spend on electricals and general big-ticket items has declined. 

And fashion’s move to secondhand? The study shows fashion remains a core category for the festive season but spend across the industry is fragmenting. While online fast fashion remains well ahead of 2022 levels, growth has slowed sharply as the figures quoted earlier show. 

At the same time, marketplaces and resale platforms are gaining ground. Nearly a third of shoppers say they will use marketplaces for fashion this season, and 18% plan to shop secondhand. More than 60% of consumers say they have either bought, sold or would consider resale – signalling that resale is now a mainstream part of how people shop.