UK online spending rose 2.9% year on year to hit £8.1 billion in January, according to new data from Adobe Analytics. It followed annual growth of 19.9% in December, although this was impacted by Cyber Monday falling in December 2024 against November 2023.
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Overall, spend increased 5.9% during the whole festive period and with the almost-3% January rise, Adobe said it indicated “continued consumer confidence and online spending power following 2024’s record holiday spending period”.
So what were people buying last month? Health & wellbeing were key, we’re told.
“Shoppers looking to start the year well, focused their spending [here]”, Adobe explained. “Consumers browsed online to upgrade their home gym, with online purchases of exercise equipment rising by 60% when compared with the previous month. Health and nutrition were top of mind, as online spending on natural supplements including multivitamin powders and pills increased by 26% and fruits and vegetables by 24%”.
Consumers also enjoyed discount deals across categories including apparel (-5.2%), sporting goods (-1.9%), furniture (-2.9%), and appliances (-1.2%), “as retailers kept prices competitive to stimulate demand after record spending between November [and] December”.
But while they may have been spending freely, shoppers were also still reliant on buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to boost their spending capabilities. In January, £1.26 billion was spent via BNPL, accounting for 15% of total January spend, and up 3.3% compared to January 2024.
Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights at Adobe commented: “After indulging in deep online discounts during the holiday season, shoppers kicked off 2025 by putting their money where their health is and spending on items to boost their wellness and fitness. Consumers also took advantage of continued discounting in January with online retailers dropping the prices of apparel, sporting goods, furniture and appliances in an effort to avoid a post-Christmas spending hangover.”
The Adobe Digital Insights team used Adobe Analytics to analyse hundreds-of-millions of visits to retail sites from UK consumers in January 2025, tracking 100 million stock-keeping units (SKUs) across 18 product categories.
