Black Friday spending set to soar despite fewer deals26 Nov 2021 02:03
By Daniel Thomas
Business reporter, BBC News
Published1 hour ago
Shoppers are set to splurge on what could be the biggest Black Friday yet, experts say.
But they have been warned to expect less generous discounts and shortages of some products in this year's sale.
Analysts PWC predict £8.7bn will be spent - up from £7.8bn in 2019 and about twice as much as last year when the UK was in lockdown.
Yet some big brands are shunning the sale, and questions have been raised about the quality of the deals offered.
Black Friday, which began in the US, sees retailers slash prices to entice shoppers ahead of the Christmas period.
It's officially on Friday 26 November but retailers' campaigns span the whole month and started earlier than ever this year, with some in October.
PWC predicts about 60% of adults in the UK will make purchases, spending an average of £280 each.
Shoppers have been buying early, worried they won't get the presents they want if they leave it until the last minute this year.
Black Friday started as a one-day event but is now almost a month long blizzard of promotions.
But expect fewer deals overall this time around amid all the problems over stock availability and labour shortages. Many retailers can ill afford to slash prices when their costs are soaring.
Retailers also want to smooth out demand to try to reduce the pressure on distribution centres where goods are picked, packed and despatched over the big Black Friday weekend.
A lot of businesses have been removing next day delivery options to help them cope.
Some businesses, especially smaller independents, will shun this event altogether.
It may have a lost a bit of its lustre, but Black Friday is still a massive shopping event. And it will probably be the most well organised retailers with scale and the biggest clout over suppliers who will cope the best.
There are concerns some retailers will not be able to meet demand on the day due to staffing issues, leading to long waits for orders to be processed and delivered.
But analysts say most brands have spent months preparing for the sale and will have enough stock - although shoppers won't always get their first choice of product.
John Lewis told the BBC: "We've worked closely with our suppliers and we are confident we've got an extensive range of deals across a wide range of categories that represent great value for our customers."
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