UK Black Friday shopper traffic up 3.7 percent

Black Friday shopper numbers across Britain rose 3.7 percent year-on-year, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions, providing some relief to the country’s beleaguered retailers. The increase was driven by high streets, where footfall was up 13.9 percent year-on-year. However, shopper numbers on Black Friday were still down 21.3 percent on pre-pandemic levels, Sensormatic said. Separate data from Barclaycard Payments showed the volume of Black Friday payment transactions rose 3.2 percent compared to 2021.

Britain’s retailers were hoping Black Friday would get shoppers spending.

Retailers across Europe fear the overall holiday trading season could be the worst in at least a decade as shoppers cut back, squeezing profit margins.