UP AT CRACK OF DAWN FOR BLACK FRIDAY BARGAINS

IRISH shoppers will be getting up at first light to bag a Black Friday bargain, a survey has revealed.

The study also found 34% are taking tomorrow off in a bid to be ahead of the sales queues.

Almost twice as many men – 44% – have planned to be off, compared to just 24% of women.

The research by retailer Debenhams revealed 7% will be waking up early to hit the sales, setting their alarms to get out of a bed at an average time of 8.42am.

The survey, in which 2,000 shoppers across Ireland were questioned on their plans, found 13% are planning to spend more than last year, while 74% have budgeted the same amount.

Men are more likely to fork out extra at 15% compared to 13% of women. The main beneficiaries of the bargains will be children at 44%, followed by customers’ partners with 39% and then the buyer themselves on 33%.

Men are most likely to shop for themselves (53%) as opposed to 50% of women.

When it comes to planning for Black Friday, 5% admitted they started thinking about what they wanted to buy four to seven days before the sales opened.

However, females are more likely to create a plan of action for the big day with 8% revealing they started to pull together a wish list one to three months before.

Men on the other hand prefer to wait until closer to the time to think about what they will buy – 21% left it until one to five days beforehand, while 4% said they would make a snap decision on Black Friday morning. SHOPPERS have been warned about buying blogger-branded products.

The Consumer Association of Ireland said only buy from “reputable sources”.