LONDON: Britons splashed out on “Black Friday” bargains yesterday but many opted to go online rather than head to the shops for an event imported from the United States that has become a key feature of the UK retail calendar.
With many shoppers having received their last pay packet before Christmas, retailers are hoping the promotions will kick-start festive trading after a weak November. Researcher Conlumino is forecasting the event will generate UK sales, both in stores and online, of £1.6bn ($2.4bn), up 20 percent on 2014. It forecast online spending would jump 32 percent to £1.1bn.
“There’s been plenty of anecdotal evidence around...to suggest that Black Friday, in terms of store-based retail, has been something of a damp squib in the UK this year,” said Bryan Roberts of researcher Kantar Retail.
Last year’s Black Friday was marred by long queues and brawls in stores. A typical mixture of strong winds and heavy rain across Britain and memories of last year’s scuffles were likely to have encouraged more Britons to shop online this year.
British retailers are anxious to avoid a repeat of last year’s trading pattern when the surge in lower-margin sales was followed by disappointing demand as shoppers held back in the hope of further discounts.
This year several retailers — including Amazon, Argos, Marks & Spencer and Dixons Carphone — have stretched “Black Friday” discounts over several days to smooth demand. Social media indicated stores across the country were quieter than last year and shoppers better behaved.
Researcher FootFall estimates Black Friday in-store shopper numbers will be down by up to 4 percent from 2014. Supermarket Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart and was one of the UK’s Black Friday pioneers, stepped back from the event this year, blaming “shopper fatigue”.
At the huge Westfield shopping centre in east London, close to the London 2012 Olympic stadium, trading was lively rather than frenzied.
Shaquille Simon, a 21 year-old McDonald’s manager, said he bought two TVs online from Tesco at midnight: “I bought one for me and one for my mum. Why not?” He then headed to Westfield, where he picked up speakers and headphones. “If I see something I like I’ll buy it. Simple as that,” he said.
Introduced into Britain in 2010 by US online retailer Amazon, its popularity forced store groups to join the fray and this year, according to a survey by Barclays, 77 percent of them are participating.
In the US, crowds were thin at stores and shopping malls in the early hours and on Thanksgiving evening as shoppers responded to early holiday discounts with caution and bad weather hurt turnout.
Bargain hunters found relatively little competition compared with previous years. Some said they had already shopped online or visited the mall the night before. That reflects the new normal of US holiday shopping, where stores open up with deals on Thanksgiving Thursday itself, rather than waiting until Black Friday.
In an effort to attract the most eager holiday shoppers and fend off competition from Amazon.com Inc, US retailers have increasingly extended their holiday deals by opening stores on the evening of Thanksgiving. That has hurt Black Friday sales in previous years, a trend analysts expect will continue this year.
“We believe Thanksgiving shopping was a bust,” analysts at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey said in a research note. “Members of our team who went to the malls first had no problem finding parking or navigating stores.”
Scott Tuhy, vice-president at Moody’s who tracks companies like Macy’s Inc, said crowds on Thursday evening in New Jersey were steady but not busy. He said some stores saw a fair amount of activity around orders that were placed online and picked up in stores.
The Macy’s store at Water Tower Place mall on a rainy Chicago morning saw thin crowds in the early hours yesterday after a fairly busy Thanksgiving evening, store associates said.
Nia Darrell, a 23-year-old student, was shopping for coats and handbags at the store with two friends. “I shopped online yesterday and picked up most of what I wanted,” she said.” I’m out because Black Friday is more like a tradition but the discounts are similar even online this year.”
Shoppers in the United States spent more than $1bn online, 22-percent more than last year, according to the Adobe Digital Index, which tracked 100 million visits to 4,500 US retail sites.
Many stores around the country were full on Thanksgiving evening. Local media reported brawling shoppers at a packed Kentucky mall on Thursday, forcing a police officer to intervene and break up the fight.
Early Black Friday discounts included $700 off a 60-inch Samsung television at Best Buy for $799.99, 20 percent off a $75 purchase at Target, and a Kindle for $49.99 on Amazon.com.
As much as 20 percent of holiday shopping is expected to be done over the Thanksgiving weekend this year, analysts said. The four-day shopping burst will help set the tone for the rest of the season, signaling to retailers whether they need to drop prices or change promotions.
The shopping season spanning November and December is crucial for many retailers because the two months can account for anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of their annual sales.
Shoppers are expected to be cautious with their spending again this year. The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday sales to rise 3.7 percent, slower than last year’s 4.1 percent growth rate, due to stagnant wages and sluggish job growth.
Reuters
