Spending on home gyms and fruit and vegetables gives retailers healthy January

Consumer spending on home gyms and health food products gave retailers a much-needed boost in January as they dropped prices to recover from a dismal Christmas.

Consumers browsed online to upgrade their home gym, with online purchases of exercise equipment rising by 60% in January on the month before, figures from Adobe show.

Online spending on natural supplements including multivitamin powders and pills increased by 26% and sales of fruit and vegetables rose by 24%, according to analysis of hundreds of millions of retail visits made by UK consumers.

UK online spending reached £8.4 billion in January, a 2.9% increase on the £8.1 billion spent a year earlier.

This followed year-on-year growth of 19.9% in December, due in part to Cyber Monday falling during the month rather than in November the year before.

Shoppers enjoyed apparel prices that were 5.2% lower than in December, while sporting goods prices dropped 1.9%, furniture was down 2.9% and the cost of appliances fell 1.2% as retailers attempted to drive up sales.

Shoppers spent £1.26 billion on buy now, pay later services in January, accounting for 15% of all spending across the month, and up 3.3% compared with a year earlier.

Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said: “After indulging in deep online discounts during the holiday season, shoppers kicked off 2025 by putting their money where their health is and spending on items to boost their wellness and fitness.

“Consumers also took advantage of continued discounting in January with online retailers dropping the prices of apparel, sporting goods, furniture and appliances in an effort to avoid a post-Christmas spending hangover.”