Black Friday and Singles’ Day have increasingly become the sales events of the year, encouraging millions of us to part with even more of our money as we - deal-hungry shoppers - buy presents for loved ones and gifts for ourselves.

But just how much are we spending? Where are we spending it? Who are we spending it with? Why are we spending it? And how is our spending changing? More importantly, what are the lessons for brands and retailers to get things right for the 2021 peak seasons?

These are the questions that we sought to answer as we polled consumers from across the UK, US and China about their shopping habits and preferences during the peak period of 2020. To give the clearest and most useful insights, we have split this report into 3 different sections, focussing on the consumers from each different country.

The learnings that we got not only serve as interesting insights, but also as indicators of what retailers, brands and marketplaces must consider as we head towards peak 2021. As they say, “forewarned is forearmed”, and with many retailers relying on the Quarter 4 peak for survival, planning should already be commencing for a prosperous 2021 peak.