Retailers made cut-price deals available online from midnight and many shops changed their opening hours to offer customers more time to snap up discounted stock, ranging from televisions to toothbrushes.
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That should take a bite out of the sales this weekend, though Black Friday should still rank either No. 1 or No. 2 in sales for the year.
Managing director of Houstons department store, Enniskillen John Houston explained that “Black Friday” promotions has grown steadily over the past three years and is now the “most significant promotional weekend in the entire autumn season”.
The Amazon Fulfilment Centre prepares for Black Friday on November 25, 2015 in Hemel Hempstead, England.
The new manager of Erneside Shopping Centre Jim Masterson explained that businesses in the centre are once again getting into the “Black Friday” spirit. According to the NRF, an estimated 135.8 million shoppers are expected to shop on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Sunday, up about 1.6% from 2014.
Walmart pledged to offer many great deals online this year, with its Black Friday sales starting online at 3 a.m. Thursday morning. Increasingly, they’ve been discounting holiday merchandise earlier in the month.
It’s an opportunity that HHGregg doesn’t plan to pass up. Robinson, who was first in line at Toys R Us in Murray, wasn’t as interested in the prices as his daughter was, but he was happy to hold her place in line as long as he got a break to eat Thanksgiving dinner. “So everyone braved the weather and we were giving out our gift cards at the opening so absolutely it was fun”.
Some standing in lines said deals just as good could be found online. This year, the retail industry’s anxiety has ratcheted up after retailers including Macy’s and Nordstrom reported disappointing third-quarter results.
Thousands of shoppers are still choosing to line up in the stores to make sure they got the best deals. “The holiday is all in front of us”.
“This is the start of a really good shopping season”, he said.
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Share article Figures for the past two years since Black Friday gained momentum in the United Kingdom show there has been a 5% reduction in the number of accidents, collisions and thefts on the day itself. Most of that uptick isn’t going toward buying gifts but into other categories such as furniture and entertainment, the survey found.
