Retailers all ready for another record Black Friday onslaught

RETAILERS are readying themselves for another record Black Friday today despite days of sales ahead of the event and warnings to consumers to disregard the hype and spend sensibly.

The global sales bonanza – originally a 24-hour affair – now comes after two weeks of intense effort by retailers to lure customers with bargains, yet is still expected to set another record as the UK’s biggest shopping day.

Retailers are promising a fresh set of deals from midnight online, and a number of big-name chains are extending their high street opening hours.

Tesco said last year’s Black Friday, which lasted a week for the supermarket giant, saw more than six million visits to the Tesco Direct website, a 40% increase on a typical week. Argos recorded its biggest-ever day of sales last year and John Lewis had its biggest week for sales in its 153-year history.

However, experts point to the event moving increasingly online and expect high street figures will be up just 4% on last year.

Britons are expected to spend £2.6bn today alone – an 8% increase overall on last year – and £7.8bn over the four-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, up 7% on last year, according to predictions by VoucherCodes and the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

Their figures suggest that Cyber Monday could even overtake Black Friday by £7m to become the biggest day for online and offline spending this year.