Black Friday 2015 will
see nearly £1.9bn of sales rung up in UK shops and online, but a study
from Worldpay’s Insight Services team suggests the bargain frenzy may be
built on a ‘false economy’ which could see some retailers start to rein
in their sales promotions.
Black
Friday has been positioned as a way for UK retailers to kick off their
Christmas sales period but it could actually be proving detrimental to
Christmas sales. Worldpay data suggests most shoppers (70 per cent) come
for the bargains but never return to their Black Friday hunting ground
for the remainder of the festive season.
Analysis
from Worldpay’s Insights Services has shown that people who shop
in-store or online in the UK on Black Friday are worth £136 on average.
And with consumer research revealing that one in four planning to make a
purchase this Friday, it’s understandably hard for businesses to turn
their backs on the opportunities on offer.
Research
has also revealed that many Black Friday shoppers (40 per cent ) get
carried away with self gifting – purchasing items for themselves and
subsequently making an adjustment to their spending as a result.
Worldpay’s data shows Black Friday deal hunters rein in their overall
spending by about 10per cent in the weeks after the event.
So
whilst Black Friday shoppers spend £114 more in store and online over
the Christmas period than those who give the day a miss, a far higher
proportion of that spend goes on purchases at very low-margin – which
could be bad news for retailers during the crucial pre-Christmas sales
period.
What’s
more, negative experiences of Black Friday appear to be turning away
consumers – one in five consumers say they think less of brands that run
Black Friday sales*.
James
Frost, UK Chief Marketing Officer at Worldpay, said: “Black Friday has
become a major event in the UK retail calendar, but retailers are
walking a very fine line. It has been hugely successful in as much as it
helps retailers offload old stock and clear the shelves and warehouses
in time to replenish for Christmas with newer, higher-priced items.
However, it doesn’t appear to build much by way of improved customer
relationships and may even be undermining Christmas sales and customer
loyalty.”
“We
will still see a rush of bargain hunters hitting the shops on Friday
and electrical retailers and supermarkets will likely see the biggest
spikes but I think a lot of retailers will be reining back their plans
for Black Friday year-on-year to focus on the bigger prize which will
always be a successful Christmas.”
The
UK’s top three Black Friday ‘hotspots’ are the towns of Bradford,
Rotherham and Barnsley where last year Black Friday spending was nearly
double the national average.
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