Although this Friday and Saturday will be the two busiest shopping days of the year for the UK High Street, Brits are cutting back on a number of areas in the run-up to Christmas, such as premium goods. This is being driven by higher prices, a rise in interest rates and a lack of consumer confidence, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse’s latest figures.

This year’s festive season spending has seen just 3.1% growth, but online retailers are experiencing the best of this with a 12% lift on last year, consistent with its growth over the last three months (between 11% and 12%). How people pay for their shopping in-store is also evolving, this year one in three of all purchases by card will be done with a tap, giving contactless payments a 98% increase on the same period last year.

Scott Abrahams, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Mastercard UK & Ireland says: “The migration from High Street to online shows consumers are continuing to look for the savings that online shopping can deliver, which promotions like Black Friday have only heightened.”