Visa has reported that overall holiday spending in the UK rose by 2.3% year-over-year, as part of a broader analysis of consumer behaviour during the festive season.
This data comes from Visa’s inaugural Retail Spend Monitor, developed by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA), which examines holiday retail spending in the UK over a seven-week period beginning 1 November 2024.
Visa’s analysis highlighted several other trends in holiday shopping for 2024. Online shopping surged by 6.1% as more UK consumers embraced the convenience of digital purchases during the busiest retail season.
E-commerce accounted for 41% of total retail spending, which the payments giant says reflects a continued rise from the already elevated levels of 2023. Despite this shift, physical stores maintained their importance, with 59% of retail payment volume occurring in-store.
Large department stores experienced a notable 6.9% increase in sales, largely fueled by Black Friday activity. This year’s late Black Friday, overlapping with the start of December and closer to Christmas, contributed to an earlier start to holiday shopping but led to reduced activity in mid-December.
In terms of specific retail categories, clothing and accessories saw a decline of 2%, while electronics showed modest growth, with sales rising by 1.3%.
Alicia Ngomo Fernandez, Head of UK Consulting at Visa, said: “This holiday season we observed a tentative rebound in consumer confidence, reflected in moderate growth in overall sales and stronger online shopping – as well as solid growth in spending at department stores.
“Price conscious consumers took advantage of a late Black Friday to stock up on presents, leading to an early surge in shopping followed by a decrease in spend mid-month. Despite the recent slowdown, the growth in retail demonstrates the adaptability and the resilience of both consumers and retailers.”
Late last year, Visa partnered with Worldpay to introduce near-instant refunds, a solution designed to simplify the refund process for both merchants and consumers in the UK.
To explore the significance of refunds in the payment journey, Payment Expert spoke with John McNaught, Head of Payouts at Worldpay. McNaught discussed how the new system aimed to support retailers during the busy holiday season while fostering customer loyalty and repeat business.
