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* Transactions up 23% on 2020 as of 1300 GMT -Barclaycard
* Sales forecast to hit 9.15 bln stg
-GlobalData/Vouchercodes
* Amazon disrupted by climate activists
By James Davey
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Britain looks to be on track for
record sales over the Black Friday discount weekend despite
supply chain disruption, with initial data indicating nearly a
quarter more shopper transactions versus last year.
Barclaycard, which processes nearly 1 pound ($1.33) in every
3 pounds spent on credit and debit cards in the United Kingdom,
said the volume of payment transactions as of 1300 GMT was up
4.2% compared to the same period in 2019 and up 23.3% on 2020,
when non-essential stores were closed due to a COVID-19
lockdown.
"So far the data looks extremely promising and we should be
set for one of the most successful Black Friday shopping sprees
on record," said Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments.
Analysts at GlobalData for the VoucherCodes Shopping for
Christmas report forecast total sales of 9.15 billion pounds
over the four day Black Friday to Cyber Monday period - up 15.1%
on the 7.95 billion pounds taken in 2020 and up 6.8% on the 8.57
billion pounds taken in 2019.
Black Friday, taking place against a backdrop of shortages https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/shortages-cast-shadow-over-britains-black-friday-2021-11-26
of both products and drivers to deliver them, is particularly
important for department store group John Lewis, consumer
electricals retailers Currys and AO World and
general merchandise retailer Argos, which is part of supermarket
group Sainsbury's.
While Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, and Asda
are also participating, some major retailers, including Marks &
Spencer and Next, shun the event.
On Thursday, UK retailers reported the strongest
pre-Christmas demand since 2015 but also the biggest price rises
since 1990, as fears of shortages led shoppers to buy gifts
early, figures from the Confederation of British Industry
showed.
On Tuesday, AO warned of limited supplies of games consoles,
including Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's
Xbox, and Apple iphones, blaming the global shortage of
semiconductor chips.
Earlier this month, Sainsbury's similarly warned shoppers to
expect a shortage of electronics products.
Currys, however, has said it is well stocked.
Delays in international supply chains are being compounded
by labour shortages in domestic transport and warehousing
networks, with a shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers
particularly acute.
Amazon's Black Friday was disrupted by climate
activists https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/climate-activists-target-amazon-depots-britain-black-friday-2021-11-26
targeting 15 depots across Europe and it also faced protests by
workers and delivery drivers in Germany, France and Italy.
In the U.S. stores were less crowded than in years past as
major retailers opened their doors early.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Susan Fenton and Raissa
Kasolowsky)
