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How is the UK spending Black Friday?

Caroline Hawkings Managing Director 11/29/2019

Are UK shoppers abandoning the American tradition or are they planning to take advantage of the Black Friday sales?

Half of consumers planned to buy, or would maybe buy, something in the Black Friday sales in 2019

What was long a novel tradition of our American cousins, over the last decade Black Friday sales have become a part of how UK shoppers buy for Christmas and a key trading period for retailers.

Data from BrandVue Retail shows that half of consumers planned to buy, or would maybe buy, something in the Black Friday sales in 2019. This figure rises to 7 in 10 for 16 to 34 year olds.

What’s on the shopping list?

Top of the list is technology such as TVs, mobiles and smart speakers followed by clothes and toys. Just over one in ten (14%) simply planned to look around at what was on offer.

More than half (55%) of Black Friday purchases are intended as – presumably Christmas -gifts for friends and family, however around a quarter (26%) said they were buying products for themselves.

And where will they be shopping?

Long gone are the days of shoppers fighting over TVs in supermarkets. Our data shows that around three quarters (76%) of shoppers plan to buy products online.

It follows that when we asked consumers to think about the retailers they most associate with Black Friday, there was one clear winner.

More than half (55%) of consumers mentioned Amazon – indicating that this is clearly an occasion the online retailer owns. Given the fact shoppers are looking for technology it makes sense that both Currys PC World and Argos come in second and third place.

The Black Friday backlash

With some retailers saying they are boycotting the event this year; consumer groups warning that deals are often not quite what they seem; and concerns rising over the environmental impact of online shopping, it remains to be seen how the figures will change over the next few years. However – for now – Black Friday is still seen as a good opportunity to snap up a bargain by many shoppers.

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