Britons to go spend crazy

BRITAIN will lead the way on Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending – with more consumers planning to grab deals than anywhere else in the world.

The international survey found UK consumers will be spending on average £327 during the sale weekend, higher than any other country surveyed.

By comparison, the next big-spending rival was the US, where on average shoppers will spend the equivalent of about £306 each.

In third place were Germans spending on average £280 each on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with Austrians fourth on £261.

The Dutch came fifth spending on average £254 each over the two days, sixth were the French with £245 and seventh the Italians who splash out about £194 per person. The worldwide study – by global management consultancy Oliver Wyman – also looked at the percentages in different countries of customers who will exclusively shop online.

It found the vast majority (73 per cent) of UK consumers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday will only shop online.

With UK online sales averaging 17.8 per cent, this signals a significant uplift towards online shopping.

Instead, less than three in 10 UK shoppers (27 per cent) are planning on visiting the shops.

Consumers will be looking for big bargains, with the average discount expected by UK shoppers to be around 40 per cent off the full retail price.