More Brits to shop second-hand fashion this Christmas as spend on luxury labels drops

Consumers are looking at new ways of shopping and gifting this Christmas, with a greater focus on second-hand fashion and less spending on luxury and designer labels.

That’s according to the latest ‘State of Spend: The Golden Quarter’ report from digital commerce platform Cardlytics, based on transaction insights from over 23 million UK bank accounts and new research conducted with Opinium, which points to a ‘fashion reset’.

While online fast fashion remains well ahead of 2022 levels, growth has slowed sharply from 22.7% in 2023 to 14.7% in 2024.

High street fashion grew just 3.6% last year, while spend on luxury and designer fashion dropped significantly by 18.7%.

At the same time, marketplaces and resale platforms are gaining ground. Nearly a third of shoppers say they will use marketplaces for fashion this season, and almost one in five (18%) plan to shop second-hand.

More than 60% of consumers say they have either bought, sold or would consider resale – signalling that resale is now a mainstream part of how people shop.

Loyalty in fashion is also waning, as consumers are frequently mixing price points, platforms and formats, and are increasingly driven by value, sustainability and ease, rather than by trend or habit.

Other key findings include:

• Shoppers are moving away from single day events, with only 11% say they shop primarily on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, as spend on surrounding weekends is now significantly higher.
• Gifting is getting more selective as over half (53%) of consumers will choose something personal or practical and just 11% plan to give luxury gifts.
• Fashion continues to fragment as 62% of shoppers are now engaged with resale, while luxury and department store spend continues to fall.
• Featuring the new ‘State of Spend Sector Snapshot’ - a data tracker benchmarking and predicting performance across consumer categories - the report highlights growth in resale, beauty and discounter grocery, alongside longer-term declines in electricals, department stores and luxury fashion.

Lucy Whittemore, SVP UK Partnerships at Cardlytics, said: “We’ll see strong spending from consumers across the Golden Quarter, but it will be more considered, more distributed, and more value-driven than ever before.

“Shoppers are planning earlier, acting smarter, and backing brands that deliver on relevance, not just price. For marketers, it’s less about relying on key retail moments like Black Friday and more about sustaining engagement with customers throughout the entire festive period.”

According to the report, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still key moments for consumers, but their impact has softened as spending spreads across the season.

In 2024, spend on the Saturday after Black Friday was up 27%, and the strongest single day of spend came a full week after Cyber Monday - showing that shoppers are changing how they respond to these fixed timed events.

While just 11% of respondents said they make most of their purchases on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, 47% planned to spread spend across the full promotional window. Nearly one-third (30%) will complete their festive shopping before Black Friday even begins.

Additionally, the promotional ‘moment’ has evolved into a season long event, and the retailers who adapt their offer and presence accordingly are “likely to outperform those still relying on a 24-hour spike”.

Cardlytics analysed Golden Quarter spending trends using anonymised transaction data from over 23 million UK bank accounts, covering September to December 2022–2024. Forward-looking insights are based on historical spend patterns and live merchant activity.

Nationally representative polling of 2,000 Brits was conducted by Opinium in September 2025.