Retail data reveals Black Friday discounts increased by an average of 25% this year
Retail experts at leading fashion sales website Love The Sales have revealed that the most heavily discounted product this Black Friday was women’s jackets, seeing an average of 25% increase in discounts compared to 2022, from an average of 20% discount in 2022 to an average of a 45% discount in 2023.
A study from Which? Revealed that 98% of discounted Black Friday offers in 2022 were the same price during other sale periods throughout the year and only 2% were at their lowest price on Black Friday.
With this in mind, Love The Sales has compared this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to 2022’s to unveil which products had the biggest increase in discounts, along with exploring how Black Friday has shifted in the past year.
Most discounted products
According to Love The Sales data, in 2022, 38% of products were left at full price over the Black Friday weekend, whereas 2023 saw 14% more products put on sale with discounts in comparison to last year, with only 24% of all products remaining at full price over this weekend.
The products with the largest increase in discounts compared to 2022 are as follows:
Women’s jackets came in top with an increase of 25% on the average discounted price in comparison to 2022 Black Friday with an average discount of 20% in 2022, to an average 45% discount in 2023. This is predicted to be due to the cold weather hitting the UK sooner than usual, with temperatures expected to drop below freezing before we hit December. UK winters are also getting longer, meaning consumers are likely stocking up on the higher priced items whilst sales last to save that all-important coin in the run-up to Christmas and the winter season.
Data also revealed that Summer season stocks have higher discounts this Black Friday compared to last year. The average discount was 42% in 2022, but 2023 Black Friday saw an average of 51% discount on men’s swimwear. This is indicative of higher excess inventories than in 2022 in the swimwear sector.
Coming in third most discounted for Black Friday 2023 was Women’s T-shirts. The average discount increased by 8% in 2023, from an average of 32% in 2022 to an average of 40% discount this year.
| Product | Average Discount % in 2022 | Average Discount % in 2023 | % Difference |
| Womens Jackets | 20% | 45% | +25% |
| Mens Swimwear | 42% | 51% | +9% |
| Women’s T-shirts | 32% | 40% | +8% |
| Polo Shirts | 31% | 39% | +8% |
| Men’s T-Shirts | 35% | 42% | +7% |
| Women’s Swimwear | 42% | 48% | +6% |
| Men’s Hoodies | 35% | 39% | +4% |
| Women’s Hoodies | 35% | 39% | +4% |
| Dresses | 55% | 58% | +3% |
Interestingly, men’s shirts and smart knitwear styles have decreased in discounted prices this year in comparison to 2022. This data supports the trends of an increased appetite for formal wear as more and more people return to the office, therefore brands are less willing to discount these items as they know people are shopping for formal wear more now than in the last few years.
Shirts had an average discount of 31% this year vs 37% last year, whilst smart knitwear has an average of 34% compared to 36% in 2022.
Love The Sales co-founder Stuart McClure says: “Data shows that many brands have had to increase their discounts in comparison to previous years on certain product categories. The reasons behind this are likely to be increased inventory excesses caused by a variety of issues throughout the year (wetter summer, midler autumn etc), and the need to consider the economic situation the buying customer is facing.
Additionally, Black Friday weekend fell before the November payday for many, which led to more businesses prolonging and spreading out their discount deals throughout November.
We then saw many retailers increase discounts on the day, suggesting that the payday issue was playing out in fewer sales online than expected. The cold snap will have helped, given that outerwear and sweats are two of the areas that discounts have increased YoY.”
