As the day after Thanksgiving, Black Fridays roots lie firmly in the US. It traditionally marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping period in stores across the country, which have long benefited from a spike in footfall not dissimilar to the Boxing Day sales in the UK.

Over the past couple of years, however, the concept has started to make its way across the Atlantic, with a growing number of UK retailers offering Black Friday sales. According to IORMA and eDigitalResearch figures, 72 per cent of Brits are now familiar with the concept – but without a matching holiday, is there any real retail opportunity in the UK?

John Lewis
According to John Lewis, 2013 was the year that Black Friday really broke through into the UKs public consciousness. It was not only the companys busiest online shopping day of the year, it also set a number of records – more than doubling the previous record for daily online sales, and tripling it on mobile. During the peak hour, 7-8am, mobile traffic was an incredible 14 times higher than ever before.

Unsurprisingly, then, the retailer is taking the date seriously this time around, with around 100 deals available and its distribution centre bringing on extra staff to cover the increased demand.

“Black Friday has definitely become one of the key dates in the UKs shopping calendar,” says online director Mark Lewis. “Following steady growth over the last few years, Black Friday really emerged in the UK in 2013, when we saw the day break our previous records for a single days online trade. Now that customers are aware of the date and expecting it, we anticipate that this years Black Friday will be bigger still.

“Our partners are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that our shops and website are ready for the expected customer response. Black Friday is changing the way our customers plan their Christmas shopping and we expect this year will see it come of age in the retail calendar.”

Dixons Carphone
Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone anticipates traffic to its sites on Black Friday to overtake Christmas Day 2014, which saw over 1m visitors. Smartphones and tablets are expected to account for 65-70 per cent of this traffic, compared to an 80 per cent peak on Christmas Day.

“We think Black Friday is going to be a real whopper, becoming our second largest sales weekend of the year, after Boxing Day,” says Sebastian James, CEO of Dixons Carphone. “We have some truly fantastic deals lined up across a wide range of products, ready to whet the appetite of busy customers as they look to prepare for Christmas.”

Argos
“In the US, it’s an event that consumers always look out for and we’re starting to see it gain momentum with UK shoppers too,” says a spokesperson for Argos. “Like any retailer, we monitor consumer trends and we believe Black Friday will be an even bigger event for customers this year.

“At Argos we’ve upweighted our marketing and promotions activity this year and in the spirit of our new brand campaign, we’re encouraging customers to Get Set for Black Friday. We have a special countdown clock on our website in the run up to Black Friday to help build excitement and anticipation with our customers for the great offers and bargains they can expect from us across tech, toys, TV ranges and more.”