Dunelm's 41% digital share: get your website ready for Black Friday
Retail research
Dunelm's first-quarter update shows that 41% of its sales now run through digital channels — and with Black Friday approaching, smaller UK retailers still have time to make sure their websites are ready for the rush.
What Dunelm reported
InternetRetailing reports that digital channels made up 41% of Dunelm's sales in the first quarter, as the homewares retailer grew its sales. The report presents this as a sign of the strength of Dunelm's omnichannel offer, where shops and screens work together.
That 41% needs one caveat. Dunelm's "digital" figure includes click and collect, where people order on screen and pick up in store. So it is not the same as the official measure of how much UK retail spending happens online, and the two should not be compared. What it does show is that a large share of one well-known retailer's customers start and finish their order on a screen, even when they collect in person.
For any retailer, that is a useful reminder. The website is not a side project next to the shop. For many customers it is the shop window, the stock checker and the till all at once.
Why speed and checkout matter going into peak
Black Friday puts more pressure on a website than almost any other week. More people arrive, many on phones, and many are comparing options quickly. A slow page, a stock level that turns out to be wrong, or a checkout that stalls can all send a ready buyer elsewhere.
Speed is a good place to start. Sayu's study found that 70% of the 491,119 websites UK Chrome users visited on phones in September 2026 passed Google's Core Web Vitals. The rest were too slow to load, too jumpy or too slow to respond for at least a quarter of visits. That figure covers all kinds of websites, not only shops, and it is a single snapshot taken on phones. Even so, it suggests many UK sites still have room to improve how they feel on a mobile.
The same study looked at which shop platforms appear on UK home pages. WooCommerce was detected on 9.31% of UK (.uk) home pages in September 2026, the most of the 8 e-commerce platforms measured, with Shopify second of the 8 at 8.13%. These figures count home pages where each platform was detected, so they show how common each one is, not how well the shops built on them perform. Whatever you use, the checks before peak are much the same.
Stock data and checkout
Click and collect only works when the stock shown online matches what is on the shelf. Customers who travel to collect an item that is not there rarely come back happy. Before the busy weeks, check that stock levels update often, that sold-out items say so clearly, and that collection options only appear where they can be met.
Checkout deserves the same care. Fewer steps, clear delivery costs shown early, and familiar payment options all help a buyer finish the order.
What this means for UK businesses
Treat your website as a main shop window, not an extra. Dunelm's result shows that customers expect to browse, check stock and order on screen, then choose how they get their goods.
Check how your site feels on a phone, since that is where many peak shoppers will meet you. Make sure stock data is accurate and up to date, especially if you offer collection. Keep checkout short and clear.
Analysis compiled by Sayu (sayu.co.uk)
