New Square Data Reveals Hospitality’s Top 12 Christmas Trading Days

The data from Square ranks the top 12 Christmas trading days for Irish food and drink sellers

New data from Square reveals the top 12 days of Christmas trading last year for the hospitality sector, which stretches from early November to the end of January – giving operators a 12-week run to capitalise on festive cheer.

All 12 of Ireland’s busiest days fell on a Friday or Saturday during the 2025 Christmas period. The last Friday before Christmas (19th Dec) was the busiest day for Irish food and drink sellers, with transactions up 38% versus an average trading day.

The data shows that Fridays in Ireland brought the greatest volume of transactions, while Saturdays delivered the highest spend. Across the 12 days, the average Friday transaction was worth around €15.20, against roughly €17.70 on a Saturday.

The data, which tracks transactions between 1 November 2025 to 31 January 2026, ranks the top 12 trading days for Irish food and drink sellers:

1. Third Friday in December (Fri 19 Dec): +38% vs an average day in that trading period (avg transaction cost €17.28)
2. Second Saturday in November (Sat 8 Nov): +34% (avg transaction cost €16.64)
3. Fourth Saturday in November (Sat 22 Nov): +31% (avg transaction cost €17.09)
4. Second Friday in December (Fri 12 Dec): +31% (avg transaction cost €15.41)
5. Second Saturday in December (Sat 13 Dec): +30% (avg transaction cost €18.74)
6. Third Friday in November (Fri 21 Nov): +28% (avg transaction cost €13.71)
7. Third Saturday in December (Sat 20 Dec): +28% (avg transaction cost €19.83)
8. Last Saturday in November (Sat 29 Nov): +28% (avg transaction cost €17.83)
9. Last Saturday in January (Sat 31 Jan): +27% (avg transaction cost €16.81)
10. First Saturday in November (Sat 1 Nov): +27% (avg transaction cost €16.27)
11. Fourth Friday in November (Fri 28 Nov): +25% (avg transaction cost €14.50)
12. First Saturday in December (Sat 6 Dec): +24% (avg transaction cost €18.29)

The sharpest year-on-year rise of transaction volume came on Saturday 22 November, up 26% on the same weekend the year before (Sat 23 November).

John O’Beirne, CEO of Square International, said:

“The festive trading peak stretches well beyond the traditional December rush. As expected, Fridays and Saturdays in November and December make up the majority of the top 12 trading days, but the festive three-month period runs until the end of January, and to capitalise fully operators need to be prepared with drinks, ingredients and staff rotas to make the most of the festive quarter.”

Visit Square for more information

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