Peak sees e-Commerce Retailers Gear Up for ‘Stockurday’
Saturday 29th November 2025 is set to be peak season’s most challenging day for managing stock inventory, according to e-Commerce fulfilment experts.
According to Kingfisher, the company behind B&Q and Screwfix, consumer confidence is growing when it comes to using AI for shopping.
While recent data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows UK retail sales growth slowed to just 1.6% in October, the weakest since May, as shoppers held back purchases in anticipation of Black Friday, Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend deals.
2025 will likely be the first time many consumers use AI tools to set price alerts and help them find the best deals across the weekend. This, alongside the growing popularity of Cyber Monday (1st Dec) as a mega sales event is piling pressure on e-Commerce retailers and brands to rapidly restock SKUs while fulfilling Black Friday orders at the same time, creating a 24-hour crunch point being dubbed ‘Stockurday’.
Data from logistics companies working with retailers and brands to prepare and package millions of online shopping orders, shows the growing popularity of Black Friday, Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend.
e-Commerce fulfilment company Staci UK saw BFCM sales rise by around 115% last year, compared to 2023. Logistics company Active Ants reported that e-commerce brands sold 40% of November’s total stock inventory during last year’s BFCM weekend. Sales and delivery platform Scurri highlights that Cyber Monday sales volumes outpaced Black Friday demand in 2023 and 2024, with Cyber Monday volumes up 78% last year.
Consumer uncertainty about the impact of tax rises in the late Autumn Budget (26th Nov) on personal finances is expected to see shoppers hold tight for peak season discounts, driving a surge in BFCM weekend sales. This is likely to squeeze stock inventories and intensify the ‘Stockurday’ pressure point.
Andrew Scanlon, Sales and Marketing Director at Staci UK, commented: “Recent years have seen a growing trend of BFCM shoppers play a waiting game. They hang fire for the best money-off deals and lowest prices, leading to a growing spike in Cyber Monday e-commerce orders. It can be great for the bottom line but risks creating a stock void, as there’s still huge demand on Black Friday. Millions of customer orders will leave fulfilment centres across the UK on Saturday 29th November and inventory must be replenished on the same day, ready for satisfying Cyber Monday demand, which can start as early as Sunday.”
e-Commerce retailers and brands are turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation to solve the ‘Stockurday’ dilemma. David Fowler, UK-EU Business Development Manager at Active Ants, explains: “Saturday 29th November looks like it’ll be the busiest day for inbound and outbound stock inventory during this year’s peak. Dispatch and arrivals at fulfilment centres must run like clockwork and there are razor sharp margins for saving precious seconds and minutes that can make all the difference.
“Intelligent machine learning and robotics are being deployed to effectively predict stock levels and the positioning of inventory in warehouses to optimise order picking and packing. These are marginal gains that all add up to deliver truly efficient Just In Time stock management. It can help retailers and brands to avoid out of stock scenarios, as well as bottlenecks and delays with customer orders to capitalise on the popularity of BFCM.”
