“Got in as was there for “normal” shopping, got basket, then told by two female staff I couldn’t buy anything as it was black Friday?”.
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However, today on the streets and outside stores it was much more sedate with many stores putting cut-price deals on-line.
Boundary Mill in Colne has held a Black Friday Week since Monday.
Asda today said it was dropping the price of unleaded petrol – despite announcing earlier it would not take part in the Black Friday discount day.
Online retailers are reporting record-breaking sales from the first few hours of the bonanza making it likely that online retail sales in the United Kingdom will surpass £1 billion in one day.
Last year’s scenes of shoppers wrestling over cut-price televisions were not repeated in the early hours, but people who did turn up were seen loading up their trollies with high-value items.
The UK’s largest supermarket did not open its 250 largest stores until 5am on Friday, rather than midnight as it did past year, to give staff more time to prepare for the one-day sales event.
But things got off to a slow start on Oxford Street this morning, where midnight came and went without any hint of last year’s consumer chaos.
Police are asking stores to make sure they have adequate security measures in place.
By the end of the day retail analyst Experian-IMRG predicts that spending online will hit £1.07 billion, a 32% increase on last year’s £810 million, and companies have struggled to keep their websites up and running.
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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.
