The Coronation of King Charles III is set to leave a £128m hole in UK online spending, equivalent to a fall of 26.6 per cent on online spending compared with the same weekend period in 2022, according to data from Adobe.

The forecast is based on the Adobe Digital Economy Index (DEI), which uses Adobe Analytics to analyse tens of billions of visits to retail sites from UK consumers, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories each month, to provide a comprehensive view of the UK digital economy. It takes into account transactions and trends seen year-to-date, as well as the impact of recent bank holidays on online spending to predict digital commerce behaviour over the Coronation weekend. The analysis is based on the historic impact of Good Friday and Easter Monday 2023, the early and late May bank holidays in 2022, and the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday in June 2022.

The forecast represents the biggest year-on-year fall in online spending since the Queen’s Jubilee, which saw a 34 per cent decrease when compared to the same three-day period in 2021.

Data from the Easter bank holiday, spanning Friday 7 April to Monday 10 April, saw consumers spend less 15 per cent less online than the 2022 Easter Weekend (Friday 15 April to Monday 18 April).

“Bank holidays often drive a drop in online activity as people take holidays, and take the opportunity to meet up with friends and family,” said Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “This year, the extra bank holiday in May is expected to have a sizeable impact on online spending, despite the many Coronation shopping events and offers from retailers.”