December 2025

The Daily Retail Newsletter for brands and media – 1/12/25

Main Image: Matalan

PRShots Roundup brings you the latest retail news from Wynsors, Asda, Lidl, Armani, Wax London, Rixo, Iceland and Debenhams. Plus, why more retailers are opting out of Black Friday, the best marketing initiatives of 2025 and more.

THE LATEST RETAIL INDUSTRY NEWS

UK's Black Friday footfall drops against 2024

UK footfall dropped 3% year on year on Black Friday, however footfall was up 54.9% week on week and was 78.5% higher on average compared to the previous two Fridays.

Shoppers shun high streets on Black Friday amid fears for 2026 growth

Shoppers stayed away from high streets during Black Friday, raising concerns that weak consumer spending could hinder economic growth.

Modella eyes up Wynsors footwear chain for growing stable of retailers

Modella Capital is in discussions to buy up privately-owned retail chain Wynsors World of Shoes.

Asda’s turnaround plan disrupted by IT overhaul

Asda has reported a 2.8% decline in like-for-like sales in its third quarter, although sales at its Express convenience stores rose by 3.5%.

Landsec eyes £95m in Black Friday sales at shopping centres

Landsec, expects shoppers to have spent more than £95m across its national portfolio of shopping centres during Black Friday week, as Christmas spending gains momentum.

Lidl Celebrates 1,000th Store Milestone

Lidl has celebrated the opening of its 1,000th store and has growth plans to open hundreds more stores in the UK.

Boohoo prevents Mike Ashley from voting on CEO’s £150m bonus

Boohoo has denied Mike Ashley a vote on a £150m bonus scheme for its CEO. The retailer’s board said it planned to approve the scheme without a shareholder vote.

Up to £10bn in festive sales at risk as consumer confidence dips

Analysis from Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) suggests retailers could see between £6-10bn in potential lost sales this Christmas, as consumer confidence weakens.

AI helps drive record $11.8bn in Black Friday online spending

AI-powered shopping tools helped drive a $11.8bn surge in US online spending on Black Friday, as shoppers bypassed stores and turned to chatbots to compare prices and secure discounts.

TRENDS, SUSTAINABILITY, STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY

Why more retailers are opting out of Black Friday and what it means for shopping trends

With recent data suggesting October's dip in sales may be due to consumers holding out for Black Friday, is the shopping event losing power?

The best marketing initiatives of 2025

From campaigns to product launches to uses of data, Marketing Week has rounded up eight of the standout marketing initiatives of the year.

Why Black Friday is a global price trap and marketers keep falling for it

Black Friday has become a month of margin-killing madness. Mark Ritson explains why brands keep falling for deep discounts and why discounting remains the stupidest thing any marketer can do.

Adapting to new buying behaviours

These days discovery, engagement and purchase often happen almost instantly, forcing retailers to rethink not just how they attract customers, but how they convert and retain them.

How gamified feedback tools are improving In-store retail engagement

Traditional feedback mechanisms aren’t exciting for customers, but by adding gamification to the process it captures attention and increases engagement.

PEOPLE, MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Giorgio Armani updates board

Giorgio Armani has completed the succession process after the death of founder Giorgio Armani and has appointed a new board of directors following a shareholders' meeting in Milan.

Topps Tiles hires new chief financial officer

Topps Tiles has announced Caroline Browne will join the business as its new CFO.

BRAND NEWS

Wax London to open in Canary Wharf

London-based menswear brand Wax London is expanding its bricks-and-mortar footprint with a new store in Canary Wharf, its fourth in the capital.

Iceland introduces ‘supersized’ hanging signs to stores

Iceland Foods is introducing “supersized” 3D hanging signs to its stores as part of its retail media efforts.

Rixo opens Bicester Village store

Vintage-inspired fashion brand Rixo has opened its seventh bricks and mortar store at the Bicester Village community.

AND FINALLY x2

Carfume launches world’s first luxury car fragrance vending machine

Car fragrance brand Carfume has launched the world’s first vending machines for luxury car fragrances.

The Christmas adverts so far

It’s that time of the year again. Yes, it’s the PRShots retail Christmas adverts round-up, an ever-growing list of all the Christmas goodies, updated as the adverts appear on your TV and socials.

PRSHOTS TOP 10 SEARCHES

What were our users searching for on PRShots Week ending Nov 28^th 2025?

1/ Christmas

2/ SS26

3/ AW25

4/ Desk

5/ Lamp

6/ Kitchen

7/ Living Room

8/ Scarf

9/ Cushion

10/ Rug

PRSHOTS DIARY

PRShots Retail Calendar Alerts

Days until Christmas Day – 24

Days until Valentine’s Day – 75

Days until Mother’s Day – 105

Days until Easter – 125

December Diary

How to make your products attractive to the media and influencers in December

Christmas is nearly over by now for the media; there are just a few dailies, weeklies, websites and influencers doing last-minute gift guides for Christmas but for most print media it’s the New Year, and what’s happening in 2026.

You should be uploading SS26 outfits and home goods for those “A new you for 2026” and “Redecorate for 2026” issues, so athleisure, outdoor healthy sporty images will all be useful, plus anything for the home.

As always don’t forget to add keywords – New Year, Gifts, Spring, Christmas, Xmas, Holidays, Winter plus all those words beloved of home magazines like cosy, cosiness, hygge, wellbeing.

Clothing wise the media are still looking for going out outfits for Christmas and New Year, so party wear, party dresses, nightwear and also winter clothing like jumpers, scarves, bobble hats, beanies, cardigans, coatigans, jackets, coats are still being looked for. So, make sure that you have plenty of images in those categories uploaded and labelled with as many of those words as you can.

You can also start to look at holiday clothing and outfits for when the weather gets a little warmer so make sure SS26 is flagged on your drops even if they’re not yet available until 2026 – If they’re not on sale until Jan or Feb then use the On Sale date field to flag this up. You can either add a specific date, 2/2/26 or if you’re not sure then you can use the text “available first week in Feb.”

If you’re a PRShots brand user and you need more ideas, then take a look at the keywords that media are searching for on PRShots and try and add those in.

If you’re looking for more hooks to help promote your brand and products, then see the list of days, weeks and fortnights below.

December Diary - Weeks/Months

December is all about Christmas and New Year events, but it’s also AIDS Awareness Month, Universal Human Rights Month, Decembeard, and No Gender December.

Additionally, the 1st week (1^st-5^th) is UK Charity Week, and Kwanzaa (26^th - 1^st Jan).

Men’s Ashes tournaments Australia (Second Test 4^th-8^th Third 17^th-21^st Fourth 26^th-30^th)

December Diary - Days

1^st – World AIDS Day

1^st – Cyber Monday

2^nd – Five years since the second-lockdown ended in the UK

2^nd – English Breakfast Day

2^nd – National day of giving (US) (Tuesday after thanksgiving)

4^th – Returns will start to come back from Black Friday sales – be ready for them (Three days after Cyber Monday)

6^th – St Nicholas Day

6^th – UK Small Business Saturday

10^th – Human Rights Day

11^th – Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day (https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/christmas-jumper-day)

14^th – Hanukkah begins

18^th – Stilton Day

18^th – National Regifting Day (Thursday before Christmas)

20^th – Super Saturday/Panic Saturday (Last Saturday before Christmas)

21^st – Winter Solstice

22^nd – Hanukkah ends

25^th – Christmas Day

26^th – Boxing Day

31^st – New Year’s Eve

For more diary dates for this year see the Marketing Retail Diary

NB - All dates have been checked, but some events may change due to unforeseen circumstances or have not been fully confirmed for 2025 by the authorities controlling the event(s).

WANT TO GET YOUR IMAGERY IN FRONT OF OVER 20,000 MEDIA?

If you’re a brand looking to get your imagery on PRShots then get in touch with our sales team at sales@prshots.com We have solutions and pricing for all sizes and types of business from small startups to large multi-nationals.

NEW BRANDS ON PRSHOTS

Rhoen is the brainchild of designer Rebecca Rhoades. The Rhoen collection features ready-to-wear, bridal, party, signature and casual ranges of luxury womenswear, featuring big bright prints and colours in mini, midi and maxi lengths.

BRANDS WITH NEW IMAGES

Clothing, beauty and accessories

F&F has new athleisure wear, new spring 2026 transition outfits, a new Abby Clancy collaboration of party outfits for Christmas, new Kids and womenswear Christmas clothing ranges.

Inspecs has new ranges of men and women’s sunglasses from Barbour and Viktor& Rolf.

Very has new Christmas Pyjamas, slippers and dressing gowns, a new Very Collection and a denim range, a new Michelle Keegan collaboration, new Elegant Opulence, Future Heirlooms and West Country Craft drops for its new Very Collection range.

New Look has party season outfits and accessories, Christmas jumpers and winter clothing, plus new going out outfits for autumn drops of AW25 ranges including clothes, bags, shoes, boots and accessories.

Barbour has new collaborations with Ganni, Baracuta, Sorel, Levi’s, Arket, Paul Smith, Farm Rio and a collaboration with Kaptain Sunshine of outdoor wear.

Accessorize has new Valentine's day and & bridal accessories, Christmas gift ranges including slippers, scarves, gloves, hats and bags, plus accessory ranges with sunglasses, jewellery, and belts.

Monsoon has new going out bags, shoes and jewellery, a new collaboration with Sarah Corbett-Winder, AW25 clothing, jewellery and accessories, including bags, shoes, boots, scarves and jewellery.

Primark has a new Edit collection, plus a Perrie Sian collaboration, new faux fur coats and jackets, Christmas party clothing ranges, new Wicked 2 themed pyjamas, new Ski Collection ranges of outdoor wear, new Adaptive clothing range, new perfume ranges, Christmas pyjamas and jumper ranges and lingerie.

Matalan has new January transitional ranges, a new nightwear collaboration with Little Mistress Vicky Pattison, new occasion wear, a new Stranger Things collaboration, Winter Smart Edit, Christmas pyjamas and jumper ranges, Grinch & Cindy themed clothing ranges for the family.

Peacocks has new accessory ranges for Christmas, plus Christmas clothing ranges modelled by Louise Redknapp and Danni Dyer, new kidswear, more Danni Dyer AW collections and a new Michael Owen range of menswear.

Bonmarché has new Spring 2026 ranges, Christmas pyjamas, new Lisa Snowdon and Lorraine Kelly ranges for Christmas 2025 including coats, jumpers, trousers and tops.

Joe Browns has new spring 2026 womenswear ranges featuring midi and maxi dresses in small and big patterns, pastel-coloured box jackets, plus t-shirts, shirts, jumpers and blouses.

Oliver Bonas has new January drops of Winter wear clothing, bags and jewellery, Autumn women’s accessories and jewellery, new womenswear including coats, jumpers, cardigans, trousers and shoes.

Threadbare has new AW25 ranges.

Scamp & Dude has new going out ranges for the Winter.

M&S has a new range of Goodmove ski wear, a collaboration with 16Arlington, a new Christmas clothing collections and Collection and Autograph clothing, accessories and jewellery, plus ballet shoe ranges, and new kids ranges of clothes and shoes.

Salts Cashmere has new collections of menswear and womenswear.

Roman Originals has new AW25 Dusk, Curve and Petite ranges for parties and going out, including coats, jackets, dresses and trousers.

Curvy Kate has new ranges for AW25 including Classique, Embrace, Glamour Puss, Eos, Entwinned, Embrace, Harnessed, Icon, Loved Up, Indulgence, Suspense, Hell for Pleather, Mirage, Zen Pink, Wonderfully, Wild One, Victory Forest, Spotlight, Pucker Up, Lush Oxblood, Lovelace Deep, Flare Full, Enchant, Cool Cat, Lightstyle and Boost Diamante.

Cotton Traders has new SS26 women and mens athleisure wear, new Will Mellow and Alex Jones collaboration lines, plus winter clothing ranges including coats, cardigans, trousers and Christmas jumpers.

Fable England has new Solara ranges of jewellery and scarves for Christmas.

See additional new clothing and accessories images from

George at Asda Regatta Lola Starr FatFace River Island

Home, garden and food

Cult Furniture has new bar stools, foot stools, coffee tables, bedside tables and sofas.

Dunelm has new Beautility, Confident Combinations, Nautical Nostalgia, Pattern Drenching and Coastal ranges of home furnishings for the kitchen, bedroom, living room and dining room for SS26 plus a new Sophie Robinson collaboration.

Online Home Shop has new Arch and Jacquard ranges of towels and mats.

Cambridge Imprint has new Very Slim List books, Christmas Crackers, new occasion cards, place cards, notebooks, patterned papers, new notecards and envelopes, Christmas cards, garlands, paper chains, and coronets.

Accessorize has new ranges of Christmas decorations for the tree and gifts for the home.

Jellycat has new ranges of soft toys and amuseables.

Hobbycraft has new Valentine gifts and ideas plus Christmas gift ideas for adult crafters, children and teens.

Oliver Bonas has new January homeware for the dining room, living room and bedroom, new homeware and Christmas gifting, a new Shrimps collaboration of homeware, new furniture, Christmas decorations, gifts and things for the home.

Homesense has new SS26 homeware including kitchenware, bathroom ware, soft furnishings and furniture, Christmas homeware and gifts, plus Christmas decorations.

Sofology has new Adler, Mayfair, Remy, Portbello, Fitzrovia and Waldorf ranges of sofas and chairs for your living room.

Quorn Stone has new terracota decorative tiles, natural stone range, marble and decorative effect tiles, Parisian Manoir, Lullington, Chalfont and Orotelli decorative tiles.

Oriana B has new furniture for the home.

Very has new home furniture and Christmas soft furnishings, plus Western, Folk Cottage and Playful furniture and soft furnishing ranges, plus homeware for the kitchen and lounge, new Christmas decorations for the home, plus Christmas toys and homeware.

Primark has a new Wicked 2 line of gifts, new Christmas homeware for the bedroom, table and the lounge, new Christmas and Wicked/Stitch/ themed gifting ranges for kids, a new low-key luxury ranges, a new Viral Product range.

Dobbies Garden Centres has Winter gardening, Christmas gifts from the Gruffalo collection, Lemax and Disney-themed Christmas decorations.

Matalan has Christmas decorations and gifts, AW25 homeware for the autumn.

Ivyline has Spring Summer 2026 planters, pots, watering cans and misters for indoors, plus chimeneas and pots for outdoors.

The Gluttonous Gardener has gifts for the horticulturist in your life including their Growbar flower seed kits.

Treats by Mars has new Galaxy Caramel and vegan Galaxy dairy-free biscuits and selection boxes, Malteser gingerbread cake bars, Mars and Snickers-flavour milk drinks.