Amazon said that a t 9.10pm, Black Friday 2015 became its biggest sales day ever in the United Kingdom with more than six million items ordered.
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Retailers made cut-price deals available online from midnight and many spent the night preparing to open their doors early to customers desperate to snap up discounted stock, ranging from televisions to toothbrushes.
Tesco’s been turning away regular grocery shoppers because of Black Friday.
The popularity of online shopping did not appear to be matched on the high street and in supermarkets where there were no signs of the huge crowds which gathered on Black Friday past year, or the scuffles which broke out as customers fought over big-ticket items.
Interestingly, research suggests that this year’s event has moved online with forecasts from consultants Experian and online retail group IMRG suggesting that online expenditure will hit £1.07 billion today.
John Lewis’s website went down around 3.20pm and when one disgruntled customer called up to confirm an order lost online they were told the retailer was unable to take any orders and to call back in an hour.
But it anticipates total Black Friday sales, including at high street stores, will reach £1.39bn – and climb to £3.49bn with the proceeds from the weekend and Cyber Monday.
However, we believe that the most popular item will be the TV, as a year ago saw some good discounts, and we suspect that Tesco will highlight a couple of budget TV models to take the place of Asda, as they will not be participating in the Black Friday or Cyber Monday event.
It also warned that many websites slowed to a crawl previous year, and suggested consumers register for online accounts early to “get in and out as quickly as possible”.
The Boots flagship store on Sedley Place was one of a handful of shops which opened extra early, advertising deals on huge posters by the shop entrance.
Another reason for the increase in those looking to shop from home could be the well-publicised scenes of people fighting over electrical appliances, such as televisions, in stores during last year’s sales.
Visa Europe predicts that shoppers will spend £721 million online on its cards today, up from £616 million past year.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, says the majority of Black Friday deals “aren’t special” and advises shoppers to cross-check them with items they actually need.
Another regular shopper, Sam McKavanagh, said that Tesco tried not to let him into a store because they weren’t sure he was there to pick up a Black Friday bargain.
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Social media indicated stores across the country were quieter than a year ago and shoppers better behaved.
