Boxing Day vs Black Friday: Which Is Better in 2026?

The short answer: Boxing Day edges it on average price cuts, but the right event depends on what you’re buying. PriceSpy’s pricing analysis found that across all product categories, Boxing Day delivered slightly deeper average discounts than Black Friday: -1.74% versus -1.72% on baseline prices. The margin is thin. But it runs counter to the received wisdom that Black Friday is always the bigger deal event. The real insight is in the categories. These two events don’t discount the same things equally. Once you know where each one performs better, you can plan your year around both rather than treating them as substitutes. Here’s the full breakdown.

The Price Data

PriceSpy tracks prices across millions of products and multiple retailers throughout the year. Their analysis of Black Friday and Boxing Day pricing found:

• Boxing Day average discount: -1.74% from standard retail price
• Black Friday average discount: -1.72% from standard retail price The difference is statistically minor. If you’re buying without thinking about category, the events are roughly equivalent — and Boxing Day is marginally better. But average data obscures category variation. Barclays consumer spending data shows that the categories spiking on Boxing Day differ from those spiking in November. IMRG online retail performance data shows the same pattern in revenue splits. The category breakdown is where the real decisions get made.

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Category by Category

Electronics and Tech — Black Friday wins

This is the clearest category split. Electronics discounts are consistently deeper and more widespread in November than in December. The reasons are structural. Retailers use Black Friday to shift pre-Christmas electronics stock — TVs, laptops, headphones — while demand is at its peak. Manufacturers co-operate with promotional pricing specifically for Black Friday. Amazon runs Prime Day in October as a warm-up, and the November event absorbs that momentum. By Boxing Day, the best electronics deals are largely gone. What remains is either end-of-line clearance (cheap, but with a narrow range) or stock that didn’t move at Black Friday — which tells you something about demand. If you’re buying a TV, laptop, or smartphone: Black Friday is your event. Don’t wait. Typical Black Friday electronics discount: 20–30% Typical Boxing Day electronics discount: 10–15% (on clearance stock)

Fashion — Boxing Day wins

Fashion is where Boxing Day dominates. End-of-autumn/winter stock clearance, Christmas gifting returns and exchanges, and retailer end-of-year sales all combine to create a different pricing dynamic. PriceSpy’s data puts fashion discounts 10–20% cheaper on Boxing Day than on Black Friday. ASOS, Next, M&S, and most major fashion retailers run their most aggressive discounts of the year in the post-Christmas period. Unlike Black Friday, where stock can sell out within hours, Boxing Day fashion sales often extend through January. The buying context matters too. In November, fashion purchases are often gifts. People buy under pressure, with less patience to wait for a better price. In late December, people are buying for themselves, with no hard deadline. That patience extracts better deals. If you’re buying clothes, shoes, or accessories for yourself: Boxing Day and January. Typical Black Friday fashion discount: 30–40% Typical Boxing Day fashion discount: 40–60%

Homeware and Bedding — Boxing Day wins

The logic here mirrors fashion. Retailers are clearing winter stock — bedding, towels, kitchenware, furniture — to make room for spring ranges. John Lewis, Dunelm, and the major homeware retailers run their deepest discounts post-Christmas. Black Friday homeware deals exist, but they’re typically tied to specific hero products rather than category-wide clearance. If you see a specific item you want, Black Friday may have it. If you’re buying broadly (kitting out a kitchen, refreshing a bedroom), wait until Boxing Day. Typical Black Friday homeware discount: 20–25% Typical Boxing Day homeware discount: 25–40%

Beauty and Fragrance — Boxing Day wins

Gift sets are the key. The beauty industry produces enormous volumes of Christmas gift sets — fragrance sets, skincare bundles, advent calendars — that don’t all sell. What’s left on 26 December gets marked down sharply. Boots, Superdrug, and the department stores (Selfridges, John Lewis) use Boxing Day to clear this inventory. If you’re buying premium fragrance for yourself (a bottle that would have been £80 at Christmas), Boxing Day is when to do it. Black Friday does have beauty deals, but they tend to focus on core products rather than the seasonal gift configurations where the best value sits. Typical Black Friday beauty discount: 20–30% Typical Boxing Day beauty discount: 30–50% (especially on gift sets)

Gaming — Roughly even

Gaming is competitive at both events. Console hardware tends to see its biggest discounts at Black Friday, because retailers want to capture pre-Christmas gifting purchases. Games and accessories are discounted at both. The real differentiator is purpose. If you’re buying a console as a gift, go Black Friday. If you’re buying games and accessories for yourself post-Christmas, Boxing Day works just as well. Both events offer solid discounts. Typical discount at either event: 20–35% on games, 10–15% on hardware

Toys — Boxing Day wins

The dynamic here mirrors beauty: Christmas stock that didn’t sell. Parents and grandparents over-buy for Christmas; retailers over-stock. By Boxing Day, the pressure to sell at full price is gone. Toys that were £40 in November can be £18–22 by late December. This is particularly true of mid-tier toys — branded products that aren’t the year’s must-have item. The absolute top sellers sell out before Christmas. Everything else gets discounted. Typical Black Friday toys discount: 20–30% Typical Boxing Day toys discount: 30–50%

The Timing Advantage

There’s a psychological dimension to this that the price data doesn’t capture. At Black Friday, most purchases are gifts. You’re buying for other people, against a hard deadline (Christmas), with limited patience to wait for a better price. The urgency is manufactured by retailers and reinforced by the calendar. At Boxing Day, you’re typically buying for yourself. You have no deadline. If the deal isn’t quite right, you can wait another week. January is coming, and January is historically when fashion and homeware discounts deepen further. That patience is worth money. Shoppers who can wait almost always get better deals than shoppers who can’t. Boxing Day also runs longer. Black Friday is one day in theory — in practice it now stretches across a week. Boxing Day sales run into January. If something doesn’t drop to the price you want on 26 December, there’s a reasonable chance it will in the first two weeks of January.

Alex’s Take — 15 Years Watching Both Events

I’ve tracked UK retail pricing through Black Friday and Boxing Day every year since VoucherCodes launched in the UK. My honest assessment: Black Friday has become more important to retailers as a revenue event, but that doesn’t mean better deals for consumers. The extended “Black Friday week” and the pre-event price inflation that often precedes it have diluted the event’s credibility. Real deals exist (particularly in electronics), but the noise around them has increased. Boxing Day is quieter and less marketed, which ironically makes the deals more straightforward. Retailers clearing stock have no reason to inflate prices first. The pressure is to move inventory, not to create a promotional spectacle. The retailers that discount deepest at Boxing Day — Next, John Lewis, Boots, ASOS — are also the retailers that maintain pricing integrity year-round. That’s not a coincidence. If I had to back one event to deliver better value for most UK consumers in most years, I’d back Boxing Day.

The Verdict

Category	Better event	Typical discount	Best retailers
Electronics & Tech	Black Friday	20–30%	Currys, Amazon, John Lewis
Fashion	Boxing Day	40–60%	ASOS, Next, M&S
Homeware & Bedding	Boxing Day	25–40%	Dunelm, John Lewis, IKEA
Beauty & Fragrance	Boxing Day	30–50%	Boots, Superdrug, Selfridges
Gaming	Roughly even	20–35%	GAME, Amazon, Currys
Toys	Boxing Day	30–50%	Smyths, Amazon, Argos
The summary: if you’re buying electronics, Black Friday. For almost everything else, Boxing Day holds its own or wins outright — and the category data backs it up.