UK retail sales set to hit £2.6bn on Black Friday 2017
UK retailers are set for a record November as new research from VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) reveals UK consumers will spend a huge £2.6bn on Black Friday this year, an 8% increase on the £2.4bn spent in 2016. Taking place on Friday 24th November 2017, the day will see retailers experiencing high volumes of footfall and online traffic, with 21 million customers expected to splurge £1.8mn per minute both in-store and online.
In-store vs. online spend
Despite being notorious for securing deals in-store, consumers are increasingly seeing Black Friday as an online savings event. This year, an estimated 11.6m shoppers will spend £1.15bn online, up 15% on 2016 (£1bn). In contrast, high street spend is set to be more in line with last year’s figures, as (4% up on 2016).
More than two thirds (68%) of those planning to shop online will do so to avoid the busy high street crowds, while 41% are hoping to escape the long queues and 27% will log on to easily compare prices and reviews online.
Black Friday spend 2016 & 2017
Online Spend In-store Spend
2016 2017 YoY % Difference 2016 2017 YoY % Difference
£1bn £1.15bn +15% £1.39bn £1.45bn +4%
Bagging a bargain
A separate study by VoucherCodes and Opinium reveals that one quarter (25%) of shoppers are feeling positive about Black Friday. Those looking forward to the savings day will purchase items they couldn’t otherwise afford (28%), while 16% intend to buy cut price Christmas gifts and one in five (21%) want to treat themselves to something special.
Top items on shoppers’ Black Friday wish lists include gifts (23%), followed by clothing, footwear and accessories (20%), and home electronics such as TVs (16%) as families across the UK prepare for Christmas parties and home festivities. Other popular items include DVDs, computer games and books (15%), cosmetics and perfume (15%) and personal gadgets including smartphones and tablets (14%).
Top 10 Black Friday Purchases:
1. Gifts for others – 23%
2. Clothing, footwear and accessories – 20%
3. Home electronics (TVs, speakers, etc.) – 16%
4. DVDs, computer games and books – 15%
5. Cosmetics and perfume – 15%
6. Personal Gadgets (smartphones, tablets, etc.) – 14%
7. Toys – 12%
8. Homeware (crockery, furniture, furnishings, etc.) – 11%
9. Alcohol – 7%
10. White goods (refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) – 6%
Sizeable savings
VoucherCodes recorded a 78% increase in site visits over the four-day savings weekend from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday last year. Over 8,500 offers were added to the site by a dedicated team of deal hunters, equating to an average of 234 new deals every hour – helping shoppers to save a massive £780k.
Site traffic peaked at 8:43am on Black Friday last year, as UK consumers jumped online before work to bag the best bargains, with the biggest single saving was made by a VoucherCodes customer in one transaction adding up to a massive £1,143. This year, VoucherCodes is expecting to help festive shoppers save a huge £414k on Black Friday alone, with thousands of deals due to go live over the course of the four-day savings weekend.
Paul Lewis, senior director of marketing at VoucherCodes said:
“Black Friday is no longer just a day of bumper bargain deals, as an increasing number of shoppers are wising up to the phenomenal deals over the course of the weekend, from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday – with plenty of opportunity to secure a must-have item for less.
“We’ve worked closely with our 5,000 partners to make sure they’re maximising the opportunities presented by the shopping weekend with hundreds of thousands of offers due to go live from a range of well-known retailers on our site and app.”
