LONDON, UK— 2 December, 2025 — New global transaction data from leading digital payments provider Checkout.com reveals how consumers around the world shopped during the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend, with global spending rising by 36% compared with the equivalent weekend in October. During this period, Checkout.com experienced a 62% year-on-year growth in the total volume of ecommerce payments processed across its network, with record payment volumes of over $5.2 billion.
On Black Friday alone, Checkout.com’s total processing volume (TPV) reached $1.6 billion, with the number of ecommerce payments processed across its network growing 61% year on year. The peak spending hour in the UK was between 10am and 11am, when online spending was up 35.9% compared with the same period in the previous month, driven mainly by general retail, online department stores and clothing stores. However, the biggest change in consumer behaviour was seen at 11pm that evening, as shoppers rushed to snap up the remaining deals before the day was over – spending at this hour increased by 85%. While the data showed that after work shopping (5pm onwards) increased by 72%, total spend was highest between 8am and 12pm, with these four hours accounting for 32% of the day’s overall spend.
On Saturday, spending rose by 26% compared to the previous month, as many promotions continued into the weekend, with general retail and online department stores as the biggest drivers of the spend. The biggest moment for online shopping on Saturday was 11am – slightly later than on the prior working day – which saw the highest overall spend and the largest month-on-month increase at 30%. On Sunday, spending climbed 36%, with activity peaking between 7 and 9pm. as consumers settled into their evening routines – a prime window for doom-scrolling and impulse purchases.
On Cyber Monday, spending patterns remained consistent with Black Friday, with the peak shopping hour in the UK between 10am and 11am - 21% higher than the same time a month prior. Again, retail, online department stores and clothing were the key drivers of the peak. Checkout also recorded its peak transactions per minute for the entire weekend within this hour at 10:07am, reaching 32,900 transactions per minute. Across the course of the day, electronics and appliances recorded the biggest uplift in transactions, with an increase of 109%, as consumers made the most of online deals for these big ticket items.
In the lead-up to BFCM, Singles Day (11 November) also delivered a strong preview of peak-season demand. Checkout processed over 50% more volume year-on-year, and consumer spend was 29% higher than the same date on the preceding month, highlighting the growing global significance of Singles Day as an early indicator of seasonal shopping momentum.
Checkout.com’s recent research, also shows that shoppers are increasingly turning to AI-powered assistants during peak-season events, with one in three consumers saying they would use an AI agent for Black Friday and 19% using AI tools to find discount codes and deals.
As well as processing record volumes, Checkout.com delivered over 99.999% of uptime. On average, Checkout.com processed transactions in 304 milliseconds, which is 30% faster than last year, processing 95% of transactions in under one second. There were almost 100 million (total of 98.4 million) transactions processed over the weekend by Checkout.com, with 62 million unique payment instruments transacted. This year, there were over 300 merchants who processed more than $1 million in volume through Checkout.com.
Jenny Hadlow, Chief Operating Officer at Checkout.com, said: “We are grateful to the thousands of merchants who trusted us to power their biggest weekend of the year, as well as our team at Checkout.com who worked with exceptional focus to deliver outstanding resilience and performance throughout this period. It’s thanks to the support of our team and our merchants that we were able to achieve record-breaking processing volumes, representing a 62% increase on last year.
“As we look ahead to the end of the year and to 2026, we’ll continue working hard every day as the invisible engine behind our merchants, supporting them with high-performing payments every step of the way.”
Rory O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Checkout.com, said: “This year’s data shows that consumers are becoming increasingly dynamic in how they shop during BFCM. We saw major surges early in the day, including a clear peak at 10am on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, suggesting that flexible working routines continue to shape how people shop. Late evening spikes also showed shoppers rushing to secure final deals before they expired.
“Our latest research also shows that consumers are increasingly turning to AI to help navigate the sheer volume of offers during peak season, with many now comfortable handing elements of the buying process over to an agent when it saves them time or finds a better price. As agentic commerce is set to become a bigger part of how people shop, our focus remains the same: providing merchants and their customers with high performing, secure payments they can trust.
This peak season, Checkout.com’s Play by Play dashboard gives a live read on how its payment network is performing across the world, from Black Friday right the way through to Christmas, the January sales and Valentines’ day.