New Adobe Digital Insights data shows UK online spending hit £49.7 billion in H1 2025—up just 1.6% year-on-year.
UK online shoppers spent £7.5 billion between June 1–25, a modest 1.4% increase on the same period in 2024, according to the latest Adobe Digital Insights report. Underperforming months in May (-1.2% YoY) and June have thinned growth in the first half of the year to just 1.6%, as weak consumer confidence and rising living costs prompt shoppers to hunt promotions and downgrade purchases.
Category winners despite soft overall growth
- Video games surged 94% above normal levels, driven by the record-breaking Nintendo Switch 2 launch and category-wide deals.
- Appliances rose 20%, jewellery 15% and apparel 8% versus typical spending patterns.
- Father’s Day boosted books (+21%), gift cards (+52%), barbecues (+42%) and cookware (+16%).
H1 performance
- Total online spending (Jan 1–Jun 25): £49.7 billion, up £800 million (1.6%) on H1 2024.
- January–April saw 2.7% growth; May and June’s weakness leaves full H1 growth muted.
- Price shifts YoY have pressured non-essential categories: electronics (-12.6%), apparel (-8%), furniture (-3.8%) and groceries (+2.8%).
With retail margins slim, many merchants are pinning their hopes on July’s four-day Amazon Prime Day event to inject momentum into summer sales. Historically, Prime Day and similar flash-sale events have delivered some of the highest single-day online revenues of the year, prompting retailers to plan their own promotions and time-sensitive deals.
The GenAI shopping revolution
AI-powered search is transforming online discovery:
- AI-sourced traffic to retail sites is up 1,200% since August 2024 as shoppers use chatbots to compare prices and collect product details.
- Visitors from AI tools spend 23% longer on site and conversion rates from AI referrals have doubled between April and June 2025.
- In June 2025, non-AI traffic conversion rates were only 38% higher than AI-sourced traffic, versus an 89% gap in October 2024—evidence of rising AI-driven shopper trust.
As AI search assistants become personal shopping aides, visibility in GenAI results is emerging as a new battleground for brands. Adobe’s LLM Optimizer helps retailers measure and improve their presence in AI-driven recommendations, ensuring they appear front and centre when consumers turn to chatbots and virtual assistants.
Retailers and brands should seize the Prime Day opportunity while also preparing for the ongoing shift towards AI-powered discovery to stay competitive in a market defined by cautious spending and high-value digital engagement.
