Black Friday is generally considered bigger than Boxing Day in terms of sales volume and consumer spending, particularly in the UK, where it has overtaken the traditional post-Christmas sales. While Boxing Day still sees significant, high-volume, clearance-focused shopping, Black Friday offers deeper discounts on a wider range of items, including big-ticket electronics.
In fact, there tends to be better deals on Black Friday than the Boxing Day sales, and I've gathered the data to back this up. To do this, I chose 50 products that our experts love and recommend, including the Dyson supersonic, Kindle paperwhite, Ninja foodi max air fryer and many more.
Boxing Day once marked the close of Canada's retail year, but that's changed. Today, Black Friday and Cyber Monday drive the country's biggest surge in deals, gifting, and early-season shopping.
Black Friday generally offers better deals, especially for tech and big-ticket electronics, with more items being cheaper in November, but Boxing Day can have deeper discounts on specific leftover items or for fashion/homewares as retailers clear stock post-Christmas, so the best time depends on what you're buying. Track prices to know for sure, but expect Black Friday for volume and Boxing Day for clearing unsold Christmas goods.
The biggest sales events in the UK are Black Friday/Cyber Monday (late November), offering massive discounts across tech, fashion, and home goods, followed closely by the post-Christmas Boxing Day sales, a traditional peak for deep discounts on everything from electronics to fashion. Other major sales include the Summer Sales (June/July) and January Sales, plus back-to-school deals in August/September.
Yes, Boxing Day (December 26th) is a major sale day, one of the biggest retail events of the year, especially in the UK, Canada, and Commonwealth countries, featuring massive clearance discounts on Christmas stock, electronics, fashion, and homeware, often with prices comparable to Black Friday, though some sources note a shift towards online shopping and cost-conscious buying.
The biggest sales events of the year are Black Friday and Cyber Monday, occurring in late November after the U.S. Thanksgiving, offering massive discounts across electronics, fashion, and home goods, kicking off the peak holiday shopping season, with Boxing Day and January Sales also being major discount periods, especially for seasonal items.
Britons are expected to spend £9.52bn over this year's four-day Black Friday weekend – 4.2% more than last year – according to separate research from Vouchercodes, with 54% of spending forecast to be rung up online.
If you're looking to save the most, Black Friday typically delivers the best deep discounts. Christmas sales, however, may offer holiday bundles and exclusive gift sets. While the discounts might not be as large as Black Friday, these bundles are perfect for those looking to gift their pets or shop for seasonal gear.
Yes, there are always massive Boxing Day deals, typically starting right after Christmas (December 26th) and often bleeding into the January sales, with major discounts on tech, fashion, home goods, and more from retailers like Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, and Argos. These sales are a huge opportunity to clear out inventory with significant price drops, making it a prime time for post-Christmas bargain hunting.
Black Friday sale beats Christmas sale when it comes to discounts and product selection, especially for electronics, toys, and popular gift items. Christmas sales work better if you're shopping last-minute or looking for deals on winter clothes and holiday decorations that stores want to clear out.
What is the biggest shopping day of the year in the UK?
Once considered a US import with questionable staying power, Black Friday has now cemented its place at the top of the UK's shopping calendar. In fact, nearly half (46%) of UK consumers say it's their biggest shopping event of the year, putting it far ahead of Boxing Day sales, which trail behind at just 23%.
It's worth bearing in mind though, that today's deals will likely not be as strong as the Black Friday sales, as on average the November deals are five times cheaper than Boxing Day's. But, this will be the biggest sale for the next few months as the next big sales period will be Amazon's Spring sale.
1. Singles' Day (Guanggun Jie) – The Largest Global Shopping Festival. Singles' Day ranks first among the biggest international shopping holidays. Data collected from Queue it shows that ecommerce sales during Singles' Day 2024 totaled $202.8 billion USD (1.441 trillion yuan), a 26.6% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
Black Friday still delivered the highest in-store traffic of any day in 2025, proving its continued relevance as the anchor of the holiday shopping season. "Black Friday 2025 didn't kill the holiday; it changed how shoppers approached it," notes Joe Shasteen, Global Head of Advanced Analytics at RetailNext.
Neither Black Friday nor Boxing Day is universally better; Black Friday often offers superior deals on tech and electronics, while Boxing Day excels for fashion and post-holiday clearance on items left over, though both events now overlap with competing offers, making it crucial to track prices for specific items. Black Friday is better for early Christmas shopping and high-demand electronics, whereas Boxing Day provides steeper discounts on a broader range of goods, especially apparel, for post-holiday self-purchasing.
The name "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in 1966 to describe the chaos caused by massive traffic jams, that resulted from shopping day after Thanksgiving.
US retail sales on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, climbed 4.1% compared with last year, according to data released Saturday by Mastercard SpendingPulse. Online shoppers alone spent $11.8 billion, up 9.1% from 2024, according to data collection platform Adobe Analytics.
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion concepts: the viral TikTok trend of using 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes to create numerous outfits (9 items total) for styling practice, and the more extensive Project 333, where you select 33 items (including clothes, shoes, and accessories) to wear for three months, excluding essentials like underwear, workout gear, and sleepwear, to simplify your wardrobe and reduce decision fatigue. Both methods focus on versatility, quality over quantity, and creating a functional capsule wardrobe.
The 10-3-1 sales rule is a guideline suggesting that for every 10 qualified leads, you get about 3 meaningful conversations or proposals, and from those, you close 1 sale, emphasizing that consistent high activity, not just individual efforts, leads to success, especially in advisory or B2B sales. It's a way to manage expectations and understand that most attempts won't close, requiring a steady stream of opportunities to hit targets.
Which sales are better, Black Friday or Christmas?
If you're hoping to bag a bargain on Christmas presents, you might be better off buying on Black Friday rather than waiting for last-minute pre-Christmas sales. New MoneySavingExpert.com research reveals that 37 out of 50 popular items were cheaper on Black Friday in 2024 compared to in the lead-up to Christmas.
Yes, Boxing Day (December 26th) is a big deal in the UK, officially a public bank holiday known for massive post-Christmas sales, packed football (soccer) matches, winter walks, and charitable traditions, though its focus has shifted from historic giving to shopping and sports for many. It's a major day for retail, with huge online and high-street sales, alongside popular sporting events and family activities like festive walks or dips in the sea.
