New retail data shows festive spending is no longer concentrated on Boxing Day, with strong sales recorded from Christmas Eve through to 28 December, and Christmas Day emerging as a meaningful trading moment in its own right.
Analysis of online sales activity from Visualsoft between 24 and 28 December shows year-on-year revenue growth across multiple retail categories, as shoppers responded to early promotions, Christmas Day browsing and sustained discounting in the days that followed .
Christmas Eve marked an early uplift (or last minute panic) for higher-value categories typically seen in gifting. Jewellery and watches recorded a 63% increase in revenue on 24 December year on year, alongside a 47% rise in average order value, indicating continued last-minute gifting. Health and beauty revenue also rose by 65% on Christmas Eve, with average order value up 16%.
But not everyone took the day off on the 25th. Christmas Day itself saw some of the strongest single-day growth of the period. Food and drink revenue increased by 116% compared to Christmas Day last year, with average order value rising by 34%. Fashion and footwear revenue grew by 50% on 25 December, while average order value increased by 2%, pointing to high transaction volumes driven by early sale activity.
As is more typical, Boxing Day remained a key driver for considered purchases. Hobbies recorded its strongest performance on 26 December, with revenue up 103% year on year and average order value increasing by 78%. Sports and outdoors revenue rose by 27% on Boxing Day, reflecting steady demand despite relatively flat average order values.
Momentum then continued beyond Boxing Day. Fashion and footwear reached its highest revenue day on 28 December, with sales up 76% year on year. Food and drink also sustained strong growth late into the period, with revenue on 28 December up 104% compared to the same day last year and average order value increasing by 38%.
Looking at December as a whole, jewellery and watches recorded the strongest uplift compared to the rest of the year, with average monthly revenue in December more than doubling, up 103%. Fashion and footwear December revenue rose by 47%, while food and drink increased by 39%. However, only food and drink and hobbies saw consistent average order value growth across the month, highlighting the continued role of discounting in driving conversion .
Order volumes also climbed across the festive period. Jewellery and watches saw a 92% increase in average December orders, while fashion and footwear orders rose by 27% and sports and outdoors by 15%, underlining the operational pressures retailers face as sales extend across multiple days rather than peaking once.
Chris Fletcher, CEO of Visualsoft, says: “The data points to a clear shift in festive shopping behaviour. Consumers are starting earlier, staying active for longer, and using Christmas Day itself to browse and buy. For retailers, this reinforces the importance of treating the entire period from Christmas Eve through to the end of December as a sustained sales window, rather than relying on a single post-Christmas spike.”
