UK shoppers visited websites in droves to snap up Black Friday bargains, raising hopes among struggling retailers that the US-inspired promotional day would finally kickstart a festive spending spree.
After a tough October and start to November for UK retailers, the number of transactions made by Nationwide Building Society members was up 12% by 1pm compared with Black Friday last year and was 16% up on 2022.
Mark Nalder, director of payment strategy at Nationwide, said: “This year’s Black Friday is in line with our expectation that this will be the busiest shopping day on record for our customers.”
However, the number of visitors to physical shopping destinations was down by 0.5% on last year by 1pm, according to analysts at MRI Software, led by a 2.5% slump on high streets. Shopping centres and retail parks reported modest growth in visitor numbers, while central London was up by 0.5% on last year.
Jenni Matthews, the insights director at MRI, said high streets – which are more likely to attract those shopping after work – might see an improvement as the day progresses.
Matthews said: “For many people, payday will have fallen today which may be the final payday before Christmas, therefore today’s Black Friday sales will provide them with ample opportunity to grab some festive bargains, which again is positive news for retailers and leisure or hospitality vendors.”
Nationwide has predicted consumers will spend more than £336m on Black Friday, a 12% increase. Although pay rises for many workers have caught up with the rate of inflation, the high cost of essentials has prompted some to look for bargains to keep their Christmas costs down.
Andy Mulcahy from internet retail trade body IMRG said momentum in digital sales had been building through the week, starting with a big year-on-year decline on Monday of 4.2% but switching to a “pretty impressive” 8% year-on-year rise in sales on Wednesday.
Retailers are hoping that Black Friday, which this year combines with payday for many, will kick off a surge in spending after a lacklustre start to the “golden quarter”, when many high street businesses make all or most of their annual profits.
However, there are concerns about the environmental and social costs of the bargain bonanza, which prompts a flurry of home deliveries as households rush to buy goods that may go unused.
Amazon workers were expected to protest or strike in more than 20 countries during the discount day to press for better workers’ rights and climate action from the US-based retailer.
In the UK, the GMB union filed a demand for a minimum £17 an hour wage for Amazon warehouse workers on Friday.
There are also fears that the hunt for discounts will lead to increased fraud. Nationwide said the number of transactions it had processed was up by 20% on a typical Friday while the number of potentially fraudulent transactions was up by 18%.
The industry is preparing for a late rush in the festive shopping season as Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday. The timing is expected to lead to a “super Saturday” on 21 December as shoppers snap up last-minute gifts before travelling to their festive destination.
