One for You, One for Me: Why UK Shoppers Spend Up to £4 Billion on Themselves Every Christmas

Every year, millions of UK shoppers set out to buy presents for the people they love and come home with something for themselves. A jumper in the basket next to Mum's scarf. Headphones bought "while the deal was on". A candle that was never going under the tree.

Self-gifting used to be treated as a guilty footnote to Christmas shopping. The data now says it is one of the biggest forces in the festive season, particularly around Black Friday. For retailers, that changes who you are really marketing to in November and December: not just the gift buyer, but the gift buyer as a customer in their own right.

Here is what the numbers say about how many people do it, what they buy and how big the market really is.

How many UK shoppers buy for themselves at Christmas?

The short answer: somewhere between a quarter and a third of all shoppers, and the majority of those who shop the November sales.

The surveys ask slightly different questions, so they are not a perfect like-for-like series. But the direction is clear. In 2020, self-gifting was framed as a lockdown pick-me-up. By 2025, nearly 1 in 3 shoppers were spending more on themselves than on the people on their list.

The "one for you, one for me" moment

The most telling statistic is not how many people plan to self-gift, but how many do it by accident. Rakuten's 2025 research found 22% of shoppers simply cannot resist picking up something for themselves when they are meant to be buying for others. Another 24% said they are more likely to treat themselves when prices are cut, because a discount takes away the guilt, and 16% would rather buy what they want now than wait and risk being disappointed on Christmas Day.

In other words, the gift-buying journey is the self-gifting journey. The same session, the same basket, the same checkout.

How big is the self-gifting market?

Nobody publishes an official figure for UK Christmas self-gifting, because retailers cannot see whether a basket is for the shopper or for someone else. But we can size it from the numbers that do exist.

The festive season as a whole. Adobe forecast UK shoppers would spend a record £26.9 billion online between 1 November and 31 December 2025, with £3.8 billion of that over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend.

How much of it is for the shopper. Rakuten's 2025 research put the average spend on yourself during the November sales at £240, against £626 spent on Christmas gifts for others. That means roughly £1 in every £3.60 of a sales shopper's festive spend goes on themselves.

Our estimate. La Redoute's research puts the number of UK shoppers heading to the November sales for a personal treat at around 17 million. Multiply that by a realistic spend range, from Finder's average Black Friday spend of £124 at the low end to Rakuten's £240 self-gifting figure at the top, and UK shoppers are spending somewhere between £2.1 billion and £4.1 billion on themselves during the November sales alone.

That is before you count the treats picked up in December, the Boxing Day sales or the gift cards bought for personal use. Back in 2020, the Gift Card and Voucher Association found self-use already accounted for 21.8% of UK gift card spending, a little over £1 billion a year.

This is an indicative Clicky estimate built from published consumer surveys, not a measured market figure. The surveys use different samples and definitions, so treat it as an order of magnitude rather than a precise number.

Even at the conservative end, self-gifting during Black Friday month is worth billions of pounds. At the top end, it is comparable to the entire online spend over Black Friday weekend.

Who self-gifts, and what do they buy?

Younger shoppers lead the way. Half of Millennials spend more on themselves than on others at Christmas (eBay Advertising, 2025), and they are also the biggest spenders overall, with an average Christmas budget of almost £1,000 against a UK average of £779. Mintel found 42% of 16 to 24s planned to self-gift as far back as 2021.

Fashion is the number 1 category, by a distance. Both major 2025 studies put clothing at the top of the self-gifting list.

It is practical as well as indulgent. Household essentials and discounted white goods feature alongside fashion and beauty. For many shoppers, the November sales are the moment to replace something they need at a price they can justify.

What this means for retailers

Market to the buyer, not just the recipient. Most Christmas creative speaks to "the perfect gift for him" or "for her". Add a line of messaging for the person holding the card. "One for them, one for you" works because it gives permission.

Use the basket. The self-gift happens mid-journey. Cross-sell and "complete the look" modules, gift-with-purchase offers and multi-buy deals ("buy 2, get the second half price") turn a single present into a present plus a treat.

Lean on the discount. A quarter of shoppers feel less guilty treating themselves when prices are cut. Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers on self-purchase categories such as fashion, beauty and tech should be framed as a reward, not just a saving.

Remarket what they browsed for themselves. Shoppers who viewed products outside their gift list are telling you what they want. Dynamic remarketing on those items through late November and into the January sales catches the self-gifter who held back first time.

Target Millennials and Gen Z deliberately. They are the most likely to self-gift and the most likely to increase their budgets. Social, creator and shoppable video placements reach them where gift inspiration now starts.

Do not stop at Christmas. Self-gifting is now year-round. Flowwow reported a 120% jump in self-gifting orders around Valentine's Day this year. The audiences you build in November are valuable well into the new year.

Planning your peak season?

At Clicky, our paid media and SEO teams help UK retailers find and convert every type of festive shopper, including the ones buying for themselves. If you want to make the most of self-gifting this Christmas, get in touch.

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Sources: eBay Advertising UK (2025); Rakuten via OnePoll (2025); La Redoute (2025); Adobe Analytics UK holiday forecast (2025); Finder (2025); Mintel (2021); Centre:MK via OnePoll (2020); Deloitte (2019); Gift Card and Voucher Association with GlobalData (2020); Flowwow (2026); Semrush UK keyword data.