As Black Friday frenzy approaches once again, we take a look at the trends we can expect this year.

Online shopping continues to grow.
Avoiding the Black Friday rush by bargain-hunting online is a widespread strategy among UK shoppers. Close to half (48%) say they plan to shop online at Amazon.co.uk during the Black Friday peak shopping period, and many take the opportunity to get a head-start on Christmas shopping – more than a quarter (29%) say they plan to buy the discounted products for Christmas.*

But offline is still huge.
Almost half of UK shoppers plan to shop online at Amazon.co.uk alone, 53% of the predicted £4.75bn to be spent during this year’s Black Friday event will nevertheless be spent at bricks-and-mortar stores. However, we expect the percentage of spending that occurs online to increase over the coming years.

Buyer beware.
Not everyone is convinced by Black Friday. In fact, 53% of people surveyed were sceptical about whether certain deals were genuine and whether they represented real savings compared to the rest of the year.
And they’re right to be concerned: according to price comparison site idealo.co.uk, 9 out of 10 Black Friday products are cheaper at other times of the year.**
Idealo.co.uk reveals that last year’s most popular Black Friday purchase – the smartphone – was on average £72 cheaper on 5 August than on the day itself. And drones – one of this year’s most popular new consumer electronics – were typically £149 cheaper at the end of September.

Average spend.
The average Black Friday spend is set to come in at £90, although those aged between 25 and 34 are set to spend more, at £154. Interestingly, men are expected to spend 34% more than women.

Discount drift.
There’s already evidence of discounting well ahead of Black Friday.^ September’s ecommerce growth rate of 7.5% is the lowest since 2014, which may be caused by consumers holding off on buying things, in preparation for upcoming discounting such as Black Friday deals.

Sources:
*Consultancy Salmon surveyed 2,000 customers
** It analysed prices of 21,047 products over a 12-month period and found that only laptops were offered at genuine bargain prices.
^ IMRG-Capgemini eRetail Sales Index for September 2018

‍

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Block quote

Ordered list

1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3

Unordered list

• Item A
• Item B
• Item C

Text link

Bold text

Emphasis

^Superscript

_Subscript