No. It’s important to remember that a large number of retailers were offering discounts online and a lot of customers will have done their shopping on the internet, using “click and collect” methods.
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Before the hitches retail analyst Experian-IMRG predicted Black Friday online spending would hit a record £1.07bn, a 32% increase on last year’s £810m. “To support the uplift in volume at peak – which we’re forecasting to be a 25 per cent uplift in orders this Black Friday – we’ve bolstered our workforce by nearly 400 per cent (up to some 2,600 iForce employees)”. However navigating through the mass of sales can be a bit of a pain, so here’s a list of Black Friday deals you might want to check out. “Apple iPads, Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablets and Kindle eReaders like the Paperwhite are some of the most sought after items during this time of the year” explains Chase Pray, a co-founder of Tablet XRay.
The Centre for Retail Research 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 combined.
“Let’s also remember today is a working day, with millions on office computers or on their smartphones at work able to shop easily and quickly online”.
Hoverboards are one of the hottest gift items this year, and while there are now not too many sales, Kohl’s will be selling a Sharper Image board for $369.99 ($130 off, in-store only).
Dozens of shoppers did get out of bed early and joined queues at various stores, including Fenwick in Newcastle and Currys PC World at Silverlink, North Tyneside.
Rob Hattrell, General Merchandise Director for Tesco said: “We’re doing all we can to help customers have a fantastic Christmas and we’re excited to be offering so many great Black Friday deals this year”.
= How to get the best Argos Black Friday deals =.
So bargain hunters are warned: be smart, shop smart.
While Black Friday is growing and becoming more of a trading success he explains that Christmas is more “instrumental”. If there are other great deals on items that you want to buy at the same store, pick them up while you are there. The prices are reduced again on Black Friday. “This is why it is of utmost importance that buyers do their due diligence before Black Friday comes” advises Pray.
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Some companies struggled to keep their websites up and running on Black Friday, traditionally held to coincide with the end of the American holiday of Thanksgiving, as huge numbers of people logged on to try to get the best deals.
