Retailers brace for boom in Black Friday spending

With just weeks to go until the start of the crucial Christmas shopping period, retailers are preparing for a Black Friday bonanza as consumers look to get ahead on their seasonal purchases. New data from industry analysts GlobalData and Vouchercodes.co.uk forecasts that UK shoppers will spend 9.14bn pounds over the four-day Black Friday weekend – a 4.5 percent increase on last year.

This bounce-back in Black Friday spending comes after several years of more cautious consumer behaviour. As the report states, “After several years of a cost of living crisis and cutbacks, can retailers look forward to a Black Friday boost this year?”

“Last year the UK saw a small rise in Black Friday weekend sales, with consumers spending 0.4 percent more as they took advantage of the discounting event to prepare for Christmas. This year, consumers will spend considerably more than last year with spending forecast to rise 4.5 percent from 8.74bn pounds to 9.14bn pounds.”

Clothing and footwear will be a key focus, with the report noting “over half of Black Friday shoppers planning to stock up on new season styles (55 percent, up from 44 percent in 2023).”

The later timing of Black Friday itself – falling on 29th November this year – means there’s less time for shoppers to get ahead on Christmas gifts. However, the report suggests this could actually boost overall spending: “With Black Friday falling later in the year, shoppers will be snapping up the deals and discounts as soon as they’re available to make sure items arrive in plenty of time before Christmas.”

Indeed, nearly half (47 percent) of Black Friday shoppers say they’ll be using the sales to get a head start on their festive shopping, with 9 percent “basing most of their Christmas shopping around the sales.”

The shift to online shopping has started to stabilise, with the report stating “for the first time since 2022, offline stores will increase their share of spend by 1.9% taking their total share to 46.9 percent. On the other hand, online stores will see their share fall to 53.1 percent.”

Travel brands are also poised to cash in, with the second annual ‘Travel Tuesday’ sales event expected to see UK consumers splurge 467.1m pounds- a 7.3 percent increase on 2023.

However, not all regions will see the same level of enthusiasm. The report notes that “the East of England (-1.9 percent), Yorkshire and Humberside (-1.4 percent), and Northern Ireland (-0.8 percent) will all see small declines in Black Friday spending this year.”

One trend that could dent retailers’ Black Friday profits is the growing ‘Green Friday’ movement, which “encourages retailers to use the Black Friday sales to offload stock and reduce waste that could end up in landfill.” The report states that 17 percent of people say they’d be keen to get involved in Green Friday instead of traditional Black Friday.