Alice Day
Online made up nearly half of all Peak Season spending as growth came from customers buying more often, not bigger baskets
Online spend share rose to 44% during peak season in 2025, up from around 40% outside of peak, underlining a structural shift towards e-commerce during key spending periods.
Spend remained flat, but online transactions rose 3.1%, as online shoppers bought more often rather than spending more
Online retailers face a retention gap, but repeat shoppers spend significantly more, highlighting the importance of the winning loyalty between now and Peak Season 2026
London, UK, 22nd January 2026: New analysis of ecommerce spending from Reward, the global leader in Customer Engagement and Commerce Media, reveals how shopper behaviours observed during Peak Season trading in Black Friday and Christmas 2025 are set to shape retail performance in the year ahead.
Online growth driven by frequency, not higher spend
Based on insight from 1.4 billion anonymised transactions across 4,000 retailers, online spend accounted for 44% of total card spend between October and December 2025, increasing its share year-on-year by one percentage point.
However, this growth came without shoppers spending more online overall. Instead, transaction volumes rose 3.1%, showing that peak performance is increasingly driven by shoppers buying more often rather than spending more each time. This shift was reflected by a drop in average online basket value, which fell 2.3% year-on-year and was 5.8% lower during peak season than across the rest of the year.
As cost pressures persist and promotions stretch across longer trading periods, this points to a shift away from bigger baskets towards more frequent, repeat purchases – challenging traditional views of what drives peak retail success.
Why retention is becoming a defining factor at peak
As online continues to win share during peak trading, the insight points to an important window for retailers in the months ahead. Only 27% of online customers were active earlier in the year (January- October), compared with 36% for in-store retailers, highlighting structurally weaker repeat behaviour online. However, returning online customers are significantly more valuable, spending 28% more than those acquired during the Christmas period.
With peak demand increasingly pulled forward, the rest of the year is a key to setting foundation to build loyalty and retention in which loyalty and retention are likely to play a larger role, influencing how effectively online retailers enter the next peak season with a higher-value, more engaged customer base.
Paul Jones, SVP of Data & Insights at Reward, comments: “What we’re seeing is a clear shift in how consumers approach peak season spend, and it’s one that won’t reset after Christmas. Online growth is increasingly being driven by shoppers buying earlier and returning more often, rather than by bigger one-off splurges. As we move through 2026, retailers that place greater focus on retention - alongside timing and convenience - rather than relying solely on short-term peak moments, will be best placed to win.”
Watch the full Reward webinar for a deeper dive into peak ecommerce performance and how commerce media-powered activation is helping brands respond to changing consumer behaviour.
Methodology
This analysis is based on anonymised transaction and merchant data derived from Reward’s Customer Engagement programmes, using insights from over 1.4 billion card transactions from 10% of UK households across 4,000+ retail brands. The dataset includes both online and in-store purchases across a broad range of retail sectors. Peak season analysis focuses on Black Friday (±7 days) and the Christmas period (1–24 December), with year-on-year comparisons between 2024 and 2025.
Online transactions are defined as card-not-present ecommerce purchases. Growth metrics assess changes in transaction volumes and total spend, while customer behaviour analysis distinguishes between new and returning customers based on prior observed activity. All data is fully anonymised and aggregated in line with GDPR and privacy requirements.
About Reward
Reward is a global leader in Customer Engagement and Commerce Media, with operations in more than 15 markets across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Positioned at the intersection of banking and retail, our cutting-edge platform fuses technology, data insights and digital marketing to power richer customer experiences, unlock measurable sales growth and drive lasting loyalty.
We’re on a mission to make everyday spending more rewarding. To date, we’ve returned over $2 billion in cashback to customers, with a clear commitment to reach $4 billion by 2030. This success is built on our strong network of strategic partnerships with some of the world’s most recognisable brands.
For more information, please visit www.rewardinsight.com.
