Written by Chelsey Drewery, Paid Search Manager
Setting the scene: how UK shoppers behaved in Peak 2024
For retailers, Peak 2024 delivered scale (£129 billion in retail sales) but softer growth. Between October and December, spend grew just +1% YoY, down from +3% the year before (ONS Pounds Data). This signals a UK consumer who’s active but cautious, with more time spent evaluating products, prices and brands before committing.
In 2024, brand and product comparison searches surged +31% YoY (Google Internal Retail Data). Shoppers are showing less loyalty and more willingness to switch if the value equation shifts.
Our dentsu UK Consumer Navigator insights confirm the widening competitive field. Almost two-thirds of UK consumers have bought from fast-commerce platforms like Temu, SHEIN or AliExpress, and 35% shop monthly or weekly. These aren’t fringe behaviours; even Boomers show participation, with one in ten buying monthly. UK retailers face a consumer base that is curious, selective and constantly re-evaluating where to spend.
A shifting UK retail landscape
Amazon remains the gravitational centre of UK ecommerce, taking £0.30 of every £1 spent online. By extending Prime Day and turning Cyber Week into a 12-day trading window, Amazon captured record Black Friday revenue (+9% YoY in the UK) in 2024.
But the more disruptive threat now comes from fast-commerce platforms, whose growth is reshaping expectations. Our Consumer Navigator research showed:
- Over half of UK shoppers purchased from Temu or SHEIN in the past six months
- Adoption extends beyond value shoppers into higher-income households
- Satisfaction is high: 83% of first-time buyers feel more confident after purchase, and 86% are willing to buy again
UK purchase triggers on fast-commerce platforms mirror modern peak-season behaviour:
- 43% buy when something catches their eye while browsing
- 37% are driven by limited-time deals
- 25% convert after a social-media recommendation
- 16% act on a “haul” or unboxing video
- 69% try to balance price and quality; fewer than 11% prioritise “cheapest only”
UK retailers now operate in a climate where discovery, inspiration and impulse sit alongside value and convenience. To compete, brands must be present early, visible often, and compelling across the full retail journey.
Google’s framework offers a practical route to doing exactly that.
Google’s Peak Strategy Framework: Reach – Inspire – Seal
1. REACH: drive early visibility across high-attention UK channels
Why UK reach starts with YouTube
YouTube remains the UK’s biggest digital attention platform:
- Monthly reach of 98% of UK population 72 minutes of average daily UK watch time
- Festive watch-time up +13–90% across key retail categories
- Half of UK households watch YouTube via Connected TV (35 minutes/day)
- Shorts usage up +24% between Q3 and Q4
- And Shorts reaches audiences you can’t find elsewhere:
- 47% don’t use TikTok
- 64% don’t use Reels
YouTube has become a central part of UK festive shopping discovery, with surges in unboxings, hauls, gift guides, reviews and seasonal entertainment.
Strategic guidance for UK advertisers
- Use a two-tier approach: always-on upper funnel + contextual festive bursts.
- Leverage DV360, Google’s programmatic demand-side platform, to access premium UK CTV inventory (Netflix, Disney+, Channel 4), and apply frequency controls to manage cost efficiency.
2. INSPIRE: influence consideration and turn browsers into buyers
Shopping journeys during UK peak season are increasingly non-linear. Some shoppers research for weeks; others convert in minutes. Presence at the right moment is the biggest driver of brand choice.
Demand Gen, Google’s AI-driven solution for influencing shoppers across YouTube, Discover and Gmail, is built precisely for this type of UK retail behaviour.
Why Demand Gen is essential for Peak
- 85% of UK consumers use Google or YouTube daily
- 68% of Demand Gen conversions come from shoppers who didn’t see a Search ad in the previous 30 days
- Linking a product feed to generate a shopping ad unlocks:
- +33 additional conversions at similar CPA
- +18% more clicks, same cost
With UK purchase consideration accelerating from 22nd September, Demand Gen ensures you influence the shortlist long before discounting begins.
Targeting best practices
- Go broad during Q4 – UK CVRs naturally rise
- Use Custom Audiences based on seasonal keywords, URLs, interests
- Layer in Lookalikes + Optimised Targeting to surface new high-value users
Creative best practices
- Apply the ABCDs: product focus, demonstration, clear benefits, time-sensitivity
- Use multiple formats (video, image, short-form) to meet different UK mindset states
- Leverage UK-relevant creator content. 98% of social media users trust YouTube creators, and viewers are 2x more likely to purchase after seeing creator demos
3. SEAL: convert late-season intent into revenue
Q4 contains nine micro-moments, and six occur after Black Friday. The highest-intent day, in both search and conversion, is now the Sunday after Black Friday.
Why late-season matters in the UK
After Black Friday in the UK:
- Conversion rates rise
- CPCs fall as competitor activity drops
- Delivery anxiety spikes, increasing “near me” searches
- Physical retailers gain advantage through Local Inventory Ads
Then comes Twixmas, where UK consumers start shopping again before New Year.
How to seal the deal
- Use tROAS (target Return on Ad Spend), Google’s revenue-optimised bidding strategy, to maintain stability and flexibility
- Set daily budgets at 4x expected daily spend
- Monitor pacing carefully; 30% of UK search volume occurs after 5pm
- Capture new intents: 15% of all searches are brand-new, amplified by AI overviews
- Use PMax, AI Max and Demand Gen to capture long-tail, conversational, first-time queries
Key takeaways for UK retail marketers
- Demand starts earlier: UK consideration rises from late September
- Demand lasts longer: biggest conversion moments happen after Black Friday
- Impulse triggers dominate: deals, creators, hauls and social discovery drive action
- Fast-commerce behaviour mirrors peak: inspiration-led, value-driven, quality-conscious
- Local Inventory Ads win delivery-anxious late shoppers at lower CPCs
- AI-powered campaigns (PMax, AI Max, Demand Gen) capture new and unpredictable queries
- Cross-platform presence (YouTube, Search, CTV, Demand Gen) wins the fragmented journey
Google’s tools help UK retailers Sleigh the Season by reaching shoppers early, inspiring them at the right moment, and sealing every high-intent opportunity.
Are you ready to unlock more impact from YouTube, Search and AI-powered retail campaigns? Contact us to see how we can help.
