Over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, Square and Clearpay sellers saw more than 4.3M transactions across the UK as consumers kicked off the holiday shopping season. For a global look, view our complete Black Friday / Cyber Monday Results. Square and Clearpay’s global Festive Forecast report indicated that nearly 80% of consumers intend to spend the same if not more compared to last year, signalling that sellers should continue to prepare for buyer demand during the holidays. 

The peak minute for shopping in the UK occurred on Friday, November 25, 2022 at 4:26 PM. Cities with the largest volume of sales were London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow and Liverpool. As for staffing over the busy shopping weekend, Square found a 51% increase in the number of employees who worked, with more than 6,000 employees working a total of 110.7K hours; the average employee clocked around 18.5 hours.

“The Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend kicks off the biggest shopping season for businesses – but it’s only the beginning,” said Alyssa Henry, Head of Square. “We’re entering a pivotal month for businesses to end the year with strong momentum, especially given recent headwinds. Sellers should leverage multiple revenue streams across online and in-person to ensure a successful holiday season, using software like marketing and loyalty programs to keep their business top of mind and to attract customers.”

Gift cards continue to be a top-selling item during the holidays, with more than 17,742 physical and e-gift cards sold this year. The top industries for gift card sales were food and beverage, beauty and personal care, healthcare and fitness and leisure and entertainment, with sellers using Square Marketing to advertise their offers and drive sales.