Sensormatic Solutions reveals its predictions for the UK’s busiest in-store shopping days of the Christmas season

• Super Saturday (20th Dec 2025) is predicted to be the season’s busiest shopping day for in-store retail for the third year running
• Consumer spending caution prompts some of 2025’s busiest peak trading days to fall around key discounting events, including Black Friday and Boxing Day
• This Christmas, 73 percent of UK shoppers plan to spend more time searching for gift deals, and 23 percent have already started shopping early to find bargains 

Sensormatic Solutions, the global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has released its predictions for the busiest UK shopping days of Christmas 2025, with Super Saturday (20th Dec) expected to see the highest in-store footfall of the entire peak trading period for a third consecutive year.

Sensormatic Solutions’ retail traffic consulting and analytics group annually forecasts the global top busiest shopping days of Peak Trading, based on historical traffic data and current trends identified via its ShopperTrak Analytics solution, which captures 40 billion shopper visits globally every year.

Super Saturday (20th Dec), the last Saturday before Christmas, is expected to retain its place as the top busiest in-store shopping day, having also ranked top in 2024 and 2023.

Last year, data from Sensormatic Solutions showed store visits on Super Saturday climbed +0.8 percent year-on-year, prompted by retailers bringing forward Boxing Day discounts pre-Christmas in order to stimulate demand.  This also saw Super Saturday 2024 footfall rise +4.1 percent week-on-week, as shoppers, who had been holding back spend in the hope of last-minute deals, scrambled to pick up gifts.

Strategic shopping sees busiest Peak Trading days centre around discounting events

As consumers continue to spend cautiously, some of the busiest days for in-store footfall over the Christmas period this year are expected to centre around retailers’ discounting events. The Saturday of the Black Friday weekend (29th Nov) is expected to be the second busiest day for in-store footfall during Christmas trading. Meanwhile, Boxing Day (26th Dec), which didn’t feature in last year’s top five busiest days predictions, re-enters in 4th place.

With customers now habitually hunting for discounts and rigorously comparing prices to make disposable spending budgets work harder, savvy shopping will be a key trend for Peak Trading 2025. Original research of over 1,000 UK consumers by Sensormatic Solutions in its latest report showed that 73 percent will take more time searching out deals when Christmas shopping – up +4 percentage points year-on-year.  A further 40 percent said in-store promotions and discounts would remain a top consideration when choosing to shop in-store for gifts.

“The Christmas rush is right around the corner, and competition for customer attention this year will be fierce,” said Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic Solutions’ EMEA Retail Consultant. “With economic uncertainty affecting both shoppers and businesses, stores that prioritise precise, personalised omnichannel promotions will have an edge come Peak Trading, and data analytics will be the key enabler of these efforts. Armed with a sense of what’s to come, retailers can use insights to build the convenient, seamless in-store experiences shoppers crave.”

Deal-hunting expected to ‘bookend’ Peak Trading footfall   

“We expect promotions-led consumer behaviour for Peak Trading 2025 to fall into two camps,” Sumpter added. “Those who’ll start gift-buying early to allow more time to bargain-hunt and spread the cost over more paydays and those last-minute shoppers, who’ll risk holding out in the hope of final price drops. This could mean we see deal-hunting bookending peak trading footfall, as consumers pivot towards increasingly astute Christmas shopping strategies.”

While the last full day of shopping (23rd December) is expected to be the 3rd busiest in-store day for last-minute shoppers, Sensormatic Solutions’ research also showed that 23 percent of UK consumers have already started their Christmas shopping – up +2 percentage points year-on-year – in a bid to get ahead and find the best deals. A further 59 percent plan to shop earlier to spread the cost of Christmas over more than one payday, increasing by +5 percentage points year-on-year.