British shoppers spent a total of £3.63 billion ($4.6 billion) online during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period (November 29 to December 2), marking a 5.2% year-on-year increase,
according to Adobe Analytics data released on Tuesday.
Retailers in the UK were banking on the discount weekend to boost pre-Christmas sales following a sharper-than-expected drop in retail sales in October, as shown by official data. However, industry figures for November, excluding Black Friday, indicated lukewarm performance, suggesting that rising energy bills were prompting shoppers to wait for better deals.
The Adobe data revealed that UK consumers spent £1.12 billion online on Black Friday, a 7.2% rise, and £926 million on Cyber Monday, an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous year.
Supporting this, separate figures from Barclays, also released on Tuesday, showed a 9.5% rise in Black Friday retail transactions, encompassing both online and physical sales, compared to the same event in 2023.
In the United States, Adobe reported that shoppers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday alone, according to data published on Saturday.