Super Saturday – which falls this year on 20 December – is forecast to be the busiest in-store shopping day of the Christmas season for the third consecutive year, according to forecasting by Sensormatic Solutions, the global retail solutions arm of Johnson Controls.
The company’s annual Peak Trading forecast, based on footfall data and real-time insights from its ShopperTrak Analytics platform, identifies the top five busiest UK shopping days this festive season. Alongside Super Saturday, the list includes the Saturday after Black Friday (29 November), the last full shopping day before Christmas (23 December), Boxing Day (26 December), and the second Saturday in December (13 December).
Last year, Super Saturday footfall rose +0.8% year-on-year, driven by retailers bringing forward Boxing Day-style discounts to stimulate demand. Week-on-week, footfall surged +4.1% as deal-hunters rushed to secure last-minute gifts.
This year, consumer behaviour is expected to be shaped by economic caution, with peak footfall clustering around key discounting events. Boxing Day re-enters the top five busiest days after dropping out in 2024, and the Saturday of Black Friday weekend is predicted to be the second busiest day.
Looking for deals
Sensormatic’s research, based on a survey of over 1,000 UK consumers, points clearly to more cautious consumer behaviour. It reveals that 73% of consumers plan to spend more time searching for deals – up four percentage points year-on-year. Meanwhile, 23% have already started their Christmas shopping, and 59% intend to shop earlier to spread costs across multiple paydays.
“The Christmas rush is right around the corner, and competition for customer attention this year will be fierce,” said Andy Sumpter, EMEA Retail Consultant at Sensormatic Solutions. “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.”
He added: “We expect promotions-led consumer behaviour for Peak Trading 2025 to fall into two camps—early bargain-hunters and last-minute deal-chasers. This could mean we see deal-hunting bookending peak trading footfall.”
Impact for online retailers
While the focus is on in-store footfall, online retailers should also prepare for surges in digital traffic around these key dates. With consumers increasingly comparing prices and hunting for deals, ecommerce platforms must ensure robust infrastructure, targeted promotions, and seamless user experiences to capture share of wallet during both early and late-season peaks.
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