Retail Occasions: All Year Gifting – Analyzing Trends, Consumer Attitudes, and Buying Dynamics, 2026

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Published: July 01, 2026 Report Code: GDRT260013OC-ST

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The All Year Gifting 2026 report forms part of GlobalData’s Retail Occasions series, and offers comprehensive insight into the consumer dynamics and spending habits of consumers for year-round gifting occasions, such as birthdays, weddings and new babies. The report analyses the market, the major players, the main trends, and consumer attitudes.

The proportion of consumers purchasing for all year gifting occasions has dropped in 2026, with those under the most financial pressure increasingly opting out of gifting altogether. This has led to a shift in behaviour, with shoppers concentrating spend on occasions they value most.

Scope

The UK All Year Gifting 2026 report provides a comprehensive analysis and forecast of the market, offering insights into consumer behaviour, and economic factors affecting the industry. This report aims to serve as a valuable resource for retail businesses, investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders interested in the future of the year-round gifting market in the UK.

Key Highlights

All year gifting shoppers priortise spend on birthdays & weddings in 2026

Card Factory & Tesco are rated best for all year gifting by consumers this year

Retailers must offer clearly defined gift guides to reduce regifting later down the line

Reasons to Buy

Understand which occasions consumers are buying gifts for this year, compared to previous years.

Understand what drives consumers to use a retailer for their purchases, such as convenience, value for money and delivery options in order to maximise sales potential.

Discover which retailers rank the highest among shoppers for each gifting category

Adidas
Aldi
Amazon
Apple
Argos
ASDA
B&M
B&Q
Boots
Card Factory
Clintons
Currys
Decathlon
Dobbies
Facebook
Fopp
Funky Pigeon
GAME
Google Play
H&M
H. Samuel
HMV
Hobbycraft
Home Bargains
IKEA
Independent jewellers
Instagram
JD Sports
John Lewis & Partners
Laptops Direct
Lidl
Local florist
Local garden centre
Marks & Spencer
Morrisons
New Balance
Next
Nike
Oliver Bonas
Pandora
Pinterest
Primark
Sainsbury’s
Screwfix
Skechers
Smyths Toys
Snapchat
Sports Direct
Superdrug
Temu
Tesco
TG Jones
The Body Shop
The Entertainer
The Perfume Shop
The Range
The Works
TikTok
TK Maxx
Very
Waitrose & Partners
Warren James
Waterstones
WH Smith
World of Books
X
YouTube

Table of Contents

THE KEY FINDINGS

Summary of Gifting 2026

The Key Findings

Trend insight – stores

Trend insight – online

CONSUMER ATTITUDES

Buying dynamics

Financial wellbeing

Gift spending

Financial spending

Occasions bought for

Research

Prioritising spend

Perceptions of giving cards and gifts

Retailer promotions

Retailer ratings

All year gifting statements

Social media

Secondhand gifting items

Secondhand gift recipients

Regifting

GIFTING

Attitudes towards gifting

Buying dynamics

Spending

Recipients

Planned/impulse purchases

Categories purchased

Retailers used

Buying dynamics (for gifting categories)

Retailer selection

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

Personalisation

BIRTHDAYS

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

WEDDINGS/ENGAGEMENTS

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

PREGNANCY/NEW BABY

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

RELIGIOUS/CEREMONIAL OCCASIONS

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

RETIREMENT/LEAVING OCCASIONS

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

GRATITUDE/SYMPATHY

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

SPONTANEOUS GIFTING

Buying dynamics

Retailer selection

Recipients

Categories purchased

Channel usage

Store type

Device usage

Fulfilment

Research

Methodology

Technical details: Consumer survey work

Technical details: Definitions

Table

Retailer ratings across key measures – grocers, 2026

Retailer ratings across key measures – non-food retailers, 2026

Products purchased secondhand by all year gifting secondhand shoppers, 2026

Category regifted by consumers that regifted an item, 2026

Proportion of products bought on impulse (overall), 2025 & 2026

Retailers shopped at for gifting (overall) ppt change on last year, 2026

Items purchased – clothing & accessories, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – clothing & accessories, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – gift food & drink, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – gift food & drink, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – books, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – books, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – toys & games, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – toys & games, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – plants & flowers, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – plants & flowers, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – health & beauty, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – health & beauty, 2025 & 2026

Items gifted – money, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – vouchers & gift cards, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – fine jewellery & watches, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used -fine jewellery & watches, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – footwear, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – footwear, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – homewares, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – homewares, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – electrical products, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – electrical products, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – baby products, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – baby products, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – experience, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – music & video, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – music & video, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – stationery, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – stationery, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – sports products, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – sports products, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – computers, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – computers, 2025 & 2026

Items purchased – DIY & gardening, 2025 & 2026

Retailers used – DIY & gardening, 2025 & 2026

Personalisation – overall and fine jewellery & watches, stationery, homewares, books, clothing & accessories, health & beauty, 2025 & 2026

Figures

Consumers shopping for all year gifting, by gender, age and socioeconomic group, 2026

Top five retailers among gifting shoppers, 2026

Most purchased secondhand gifting categories, 2026

Most used social media platforms for purchasing gifts, 2026

Top five occasions shoppers bought gifts for, 2026

Agreement with the statement ‘Promotions encourage me to purchase gifts earlier’, 2026

All year gifting shopper penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & region, 2026

Financial wellbeing compared to last year, 2025 & 2026

All year gifting spending compared to last year, 2025 & 2026

How consumers financed all year gifting spending, 2025 & 2026

What occasions shoppers purchased for, 2026 and change on 2025

When shopping for gifts, what activities have you undertaken online over the past year, 2025 & 2026

Which occasions consumers are prioritising and cutting back on, 2026

Which occasions consumers believe they should give cards and gifts for, 2026

Which retailer did the best job of promoting gifting and greeting cards products, 2026 and change on 2025

Net agreement with statements about all year gifting, 2026 and change on 2025

Agreement & disagreement with statements about all year gifting, 2026 and change on 2025

Proportion of all year gifting shoppers that use various social media platforms, 2026

Proportion of social media users using each platform to purchase gifts, 2026

All year gifting secondhand shopper penetration, overall and by demographic, 2026

Reasons for shopping secondhand, 2026

Reasons for not shopping secondhand, 2026

Secondhand gift recipients, 2026

All year gifting regifting shopper penetration, overall and by demographic, 2026

Why consumers regifted an item/s this year, 2026

Why consumers did not regift item/s this year, 2026

Regifting recipients, 2026

Agreement statements – It is more convenient to have a gift list, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Agreement statements – It is acceptable to have a gift list, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Agreement statements – It is acceptable to ask for vouchers/gift cards, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Agreement statements – It is acceptable to ask for cash gifts instead of a present, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Agreement statements – It is acceptable to ask friends/family for donations to a large purchase, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Birthday gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Gratitude/sympathy gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Weddings/engagements gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Life achievement gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Spontaneous gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Religious/ceremonial occasions gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Pregnancy/new baby gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Holiday souvenir gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Retirement/leaving gifting penetration, overall (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

Average spend per occasion on gifting, 2026 & change on 2025

Gift recipients – overall gifting, 2026 & change on 2025

Planned/impulse purchases – overall gifting, 2026

Gifting categories purchased for all occasions, 2026 & change on 2025

Retailers shopped at for gifting, 2025 & 2026

Clothing & accessories gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Gift food & drink gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Books gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Toys & games gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Plants & flowers gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Health & beauty gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Money gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Vouchers & gift cards gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Fine jewellery & watches gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Footwear gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Homewares gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Electrical products gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Baby products gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Experience gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Music & video gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Stationery gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Sports products gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

Computers gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

DIY & Gardening gifting penetration, total (2024-2026) and by occasion (2025 & 2026)

What's driving retailer selection – overall gifting, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – overall gifting, 2026 & change on 2025

Personalisation – overall gifting, 2026

Gifting penetration – birthday, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – birthdays, 2026

Gift recipients – birthday, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – birthday, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing birthday gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing birthday gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for birthday gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for birthday gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – birthday, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – wedding/engagement, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – wedding/engagements, 2026

Gift recipients – wedding/engagement, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – wedding/engagement, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing wedding/engagement gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing wedding/engagement gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for wedding/engagement gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for wedding/engagement gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – wedding/engagement, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – pregnancy/new baby, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – pregnancy/new baby, 2026

Gift recipients – pregnancy/new baby, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – pregnancy/new baby, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing pregnancy/new baby gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing pregnancy/new baby gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for pregnancy/new baby gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for pregnancy/new baby gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – pregnancy/new baby, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – religious/ceremonial, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – religious/ceremonial, 2026

Gift recipients – religious/ceremonial, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – religious/ceremonial, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing religious/ceremonial gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing religious/ceremonial gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for religious/ceremonial gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for religious/ceremonial gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – religious/ceremonial, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – life achievement, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – life achievements, 2026

Gift recipients – life achievement, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – life achievement, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing life achievement gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing life achievement gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for life achievement gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for life achievement gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – life achievement, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – retirement/leaving, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – retirement/leaving, 2026

Gift recipients – retirement/leaving, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – retirement/leaving, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing retirement/leaving gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing retirement/leaving gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for retirement/leaving gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for retirement/leaving gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – retirement/leaving, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – gratitude/sympathy, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – gratitude/sympathy, 2026

Gift recipients – gratitude/sympathy, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – gratitude/sympathy, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing gratitude/sympathy gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing gratitude/sympathy gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for gratitude/sympathy gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for gratitude/sympathy gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – gratitude/sympathy, 2026 & change on 2025

Gifting penetration – spontaneous, total (2024-2026) and by demographic & male/female, 2026

What's driving retailer selection – spontaneous, 2026

Gift recipients – spontaneous, 2026 & change on 2025

Categories purchased – spontaneous, 2026 & change on 2025

Consumers using each channel for purchasing spontaneous gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each store type for purchasing spontaneous gifts, 2025 & 2026

Consumers using each device for spontaneous gifting, 2025 & 2026

Fulfilment options for spontaneous gift purchases made online, 2025 & 2026

Research undertaken – spontaneous, 2026 & change on 2025

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