LONDON: Britons splashed out on “Black Friday” bargains on Friday but many opted to go online rather than head to the shops for an event imported from the US that has become a key feature of the UK retail calendar.
With many shoppers having received their last pay packet before Christmas, retailers are hoping the promotions will kick-start festive trading after a weak November.
Researcher Conlumino is forecasting the event will generate UK sales, both in stores and online, of £1.6 billion ($2.4bn), up 20 per cent on 2014. It forecast online spending would jump 32pc to £1.1bn.
“There’s been plenty of anecdotal evidence around to suggest that Black Friday, in terms of store-based retail, has been something of a damp squib in the UK this year,” said Bryan Roberts of researcher Kantar Retail.
“It seems certain that Black Friday will largely be an online event this year.”
Last year’s Black Friday was marred by long queues and brawls in stores. A typical mixture of strong winds and heavy rain across Britain and memories of last year’s scuffles were likely to have encouraged more Britons to shop online this year.
British retailers are anxious to avoid a repeat of last year’s trading pattern when the surge in lower-margin sales was followed by disappointing demand as shoppers held back in the hope of further discounts.
This year, several retailers – including Amazon, Argos, Marks & Spencer and Dixons Carphone – have stretched “Black Friday” discounts over several days to smooth demand.
Social media indicated stores across the country were quieter than last year and shoppers better behaved.
Supermarket Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart and was one of the UK’s Black Friday pioneers, stepped back from the event this year, blaming “shopper fatigue”.
At the huge Westfield shopping centre in east London, close to the London 2012 Olympic stadium, trading was lively rather than frenzied.
Shaquille Simon, a 21 year-old McDonald’s manager, said he bought two TVs online from Tesco at midnight: “I bought one for me and one for my mum. Why not?”
He then headed to Westfield, where he picked up speakers and headphones. “If I see something I like I’ll buy it. Simple as that,” he said.
In the US Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, was so named because spending would pick up and retailers would begin to turn a profit for the year and move into the black.
Introduced into Britain in 2010 by US online retailer Amazon, its popularity forced store groups to join the fray and this year, according to a survey by Barclays, 77pc of them are taking part.
Crowds were thin at US stores and shopping malls in the early hours of Black Friday and on Thanksgiving evening as shoppers responded to early holiday discounts with caution and bad weather hurt turnout.
Bargain hunters found relatively little competition compared with previous years. Some said yesterday they had already shopped online or visited the mall the night before.
That reflects the new normal of US holiday shopping, where stores open up with deals on Thanksgiving Thursday itself, rather than waiting until Black Friday.
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