What We Learned from Black Friday 2025

So, the dust has settled. Retailers are starting to emerge from the trenches and look out across the deserted battleground of Black Friday. In the UK, retail’s busiest weekend was set against the backdrop of the Government’s most recent budget, which did little to settle the nerves of the public.  

Some earlier promotional activities in November, such as Singles’ Day, demonstrated a demand for spending among consumers. However, early reports from IMRG stated that only 46% of individuals were planning on making a purchase during Black Friday, down from 53% last year. 

But what actually happened? And what did Black Friday 2025 tell us about the future of online retail? Join us as we dive deep into everything discount-related and assess Peak 2025 so far.  

The Headlines: Spending Rises, But Not on the High Street

The decline of in-person shopping on the high street has been well documented over the last decade, as the rise of online retailers made shopping simpler.  

Black Friday previously evoked visions of queues outside shops that looked a mile long, and all-out panic erupting as shoppers fought to get their hands on that year’s hottest deals in 2025, this battle took place away from the aisles, and in people’s homes. 

• Visitors to UK shopping destinations fell by 2% on Black Friday compared to last year, according to MRI Software. 

• Across all mediums, Nationwide reported that 11.9 million transactions took place across the day, 8.7% higher than last Black Friday suggesting that there was no fall in consumer demand. 

• Consumer spending was also high as British shoppers spent £3.8 billion online across the Black Friday weekend until Cyber Monday, up 4.6% YoY.

• These patterns are reflected across the pond as Adobe reported that Black Friday shoppers spent roughly $12.5 million every minute.  

• The top-performing categories were jewellery, video games, toys, electronics, personal care products, sporting goods and apparel, with an average discount of 16.7% available to shoppers. 

The Importance of Shopping Around

2025 has shown that shoppers are no longer simply drawn to flashy advertising and big number discounts, they want value. With Black Friday turning into a whole month of deals, spending-savvy shoppers spent more time researching their purchases before they pulled the trigger. 

For our clients, sales started rising as early as 16th November, which is earlier than 2024’s starting spike of 21st November. This gave shoppers plenty of time for product discovery and price comparisons before Black Friday arrived. 

This prolonged game of cat and mouse may be off-putting for retailers who resent seeing rises in customer engagement not reflected in sales. To keep Black Friday sales impactful and effective, we may see more consumers cut back the length of their deals, focusing on a single week, or weekend. 

However, it wasn’t just retailers starting Black Friday activity early; shoppers were beginning their activities earlier this year. Fake Sunday, the Sunday before Black Friday, saw 93% of Black Friday’s clicks and was the 4th biggest click day of 2025.  

What Were People Buying This Black Friday?

From consoles to concealer, shoppers in the UK spent Black Friday picking up deep discounts on a variety of products from different categories. Looking at our clients, we can get a good picture of some of the most sought after products this Black Friday based on online clicks: 

• Electronics saw the biggest increase with 19.3% growth, driven by demand for home office and entertainment setups, including computers, laptops, and televisions.  

• Health categories such as nutrition and supplements also saw a rise, growing 16.4% as wellness trends continue to be a focus for consumers. 

• Gifting has firmly been on the minds of shoppers as we enter the festive period with an 8.7% increase. This is due to the growing ease of home delivery for popular gifts such as flowers. 

With consumers clearly having gifts and luxury goods on their minds, data shows that the biggest rise in revenue across Black Friday week was across audio, entertainment, beer and wine, and fragrance. These categories, alongside gifting which also saw a Black Friday boost, will likely continue to grow as we get closer to the festive period.  

What’s Next?

While Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the days between, may be the high point for online shopping, demand continues throughout December. For retailers, there are still big wins to be had once the Black Friday banner has been put back in storage; here’s what to look out for across the rest of 2025: 

• December’s is likely to match November’s demand: In 2024, the final month of the year had 94% of November’s retail activity.

• Lower CPCs across the month: Last year, December had on average 2% lower CPCs than November, despite seeing a similar number of searches. This difference in cost could be as high as 4% in 2025. 

• Sundays remain the main shopping day: Outside of Cyber Monday, the first two Sundays of December are likely to have the highest click rates.  

• Super Saturday still matters: Often accompanied by its partner in crime, Mad Friday, Super Saturday is the last weekend before Christmas when consumer spending hits its final peak before Boxing Day.  

For retailers across the country, there are a few changes you can still make to your marketing strategies to ensure you finish 2025 on a high. 

• ‘Next day delivery’ and ‘find my nearest store’ will become important signals for consumers who’d rather not spend Christmas Eve waiting on those final presents to arrive. 

• Focus your spending on days with high traffic and low CPCs, this can be especially effective on Super Saturday when many retailers may already be beginning to pivot towards next year as budgets are exhausted.  

• Beyond this, ensure you’re tracking activity for the days after Christmas. Recent years have shown a peak for certain high-ticket purchases such as electronics and home improvement during this period.  

Get in touch with the Productcaster team today for more insights, updates and support.