Checkout.com Data Release: Last-Minute Shoppers and January Sales Drive Multiple Christmas Spending Peaks

New data from Checkout.com, a leading global digital payments company, reveals that the 2025 UK holiday season was defined by a series of distinct spending waves, as consumers shifted from early gift-buying to last-minute essentials and post-holiday sales. Transaction data shows that even after the initial December rush, spending remained resilient, with the week before Christmas and the first weekend of January driving volumes well above the seasonal average.

With Cyber Monday falling on the first of the month this year, it acted as the expected early peak online shopping event in December, with spending 78% above the daily average for the period. Beyond this initial spike, the data shows that consumer activity was spread across multiple later waves, rather than concentrated in a single promotional moment.

This shift was most visible in a second surge just before Christmas Day. The final Friday before Christmas emerged as a standout trading day, with spending 38% higher than the daily average for the period (excluding Cyber Monday). This suggests a clear last-minute window, as consumers used the final payday and full weekend before shipping cut-offs to complete their purchases.

Momentum continued through the end of the month. Following the anticipated lull on Christmas Day, Boxing Day delivered an immediate rebound, with spending on December 26th jumping 43% compared to Christmas Day and remaining 29% above the adjusted period average. Elevated volumes were sustained through year-end, as consumers shifted from gifting to engaging with digital sales.

Spending surged again during the first weekend of January, as shoppers took advantage of the final days of the holiday break. Spending on January 2nd reached 20% above the period average, highlighting the growing strength of the January sales at the start of the year.

Rory O’Neill, CMO at Checkout.com, said: “What we’re seeing in these last-minute and sales-driven surges is a consumer who wants to move quickly and feel confident they’re getting the best price, especially when time is limited. That same pressure is driving interest in AI agents that can search, compare and buy on a shopper’s behalf – particularly for routine purchases where convenience matters more than choice.

“Our research shows four in ten UK shoppers would already trust agents to handle those everyday transactions, but only within clear limits. As commerce becomes faster and more automated, the role of payments is to make sure every transaction, whether triggered by a shopper or an agent, is fast, reliable and secure.”

This peak season, Checkout.com’s Play by Play dashboard gives a live read on how its payment network is performing across the world, from Black Friday right the way through to Christmas, the January sales and Valentines’ day.