Lockdown spending glut means Black Friday sales could last until Christmas

Early deals see surge in online shopping but stores may have to stimulate demand in December

BLACK Friday deals could be extended up to Christmas, as retailers say they will need to keep people buying after a glut of online spending in November.

The lockdown closure of brick-andmortar retailers has prompted a surge in online deals over and above levels seen in recent years during mass sales on the last Friday of November.

Online retailers predicted that this trend, combined with a rash of early purchases as consumers attempt to preempt postal gridlock in December, could lead to deals and discounts being extended beyond next Monday.

IMRG, the UK’S online retail association, said its research indicated that the number of companies launching their Black Friday deals earlier this year had more than doubled.

Last year, the association found that around 11 per cent of online retailers had launched discounts by Nov 18, more than a week before Black Friday, compared with 27 per cent this year.

Justin Opie, the managing director of IMRG, said a glut of November spendi ng could cut i nto the traditional December retail boom.

He said: “There will be ongoing discounting (after November); what form it takes depends on the scale of the Black Friday period and how many of those sales have been brought forward.

“The pattern is really clear this November; rather than being a frenetic week it has definitely been a longer period. It has been much more like a two-week period and … in some cases people going with a month of Black Friday [deals]. The question is will that bring demand forward to the extent there isn’t that demand in December.”

Black Friday is a US retail tradition that originated with shops offloading surplus stock following Thanksgiving. It has become increasingly popular in the UK after being imported by US online retail giants such as Amazon.

In recent years, discounts have extended over a full weekend with the creation of “Cyber Monday”.

The lockdown has supercharged Black Friday season as millions of shoppers have been forced online. Sites that track deals have reported a huge surge in people using their services.

Tom Church, the co-founder of Latestdeals.co.uk, said: “We’ve seen a yearon-year surge of 302 per cent of online shoppers via our Black Friday app, and I predict that we will see record online spending in the UK for Black Friday.”

Shoppers are being warned that the customary tactic of waiting until Black Friday itself to find the best deal could backfire. Mr Opie said: “Many people have made the decision to buy early.

“There is no guarantee you won’t get a better deal nearer the time, but there is an equally likely chance that what you want is gone.”