£700m in online sales thanks to pre-Christmas shopping frenzy

ALMOST 15 MILLION BARGAIN HUNTERS WILL TAKE PART IN A PRE-CHRISTMAS SALES BONANZA, STARTING ON FRIDAY AND CULMINATING WITH ‘CYBER MONDAY.’ Shoppers are forecast to spend £1.9billion in a single day as online retailers turn the heat on high streets on Friday and with just 30 shopping days left until December 25th. The sum will include £721million spent online, an increase of 17% on the ‘Black Friday’ frenzy of last year, according to card payments firm Visa Europe. This has been put down to the fact that around half of those aware of Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year claim that they did not take part in the sales madness last year Black Friday is named after the day of frenzied shopping in the US after Thanksgiving when retailers traditionally started making a profit, or went into ‘the black’ This year it takes place on Friday, November 27, but some shops have held a week of sales starting on Monday November 23 with workers at some Amazon warehouses picking, packing and dispatching orders since 12am on Monday. But it seems the enthusiasm for Black Friday isn’t shared throughout Europe, with UK shoppers expected to spend 2%, or £450 million, more over the four days than France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium combined. Despite the popularity, however, some stores have decided not to take part this year as earlier this month Asda announced it will not take part in Black Friday this year after a shopper revolt over the pre-Christmas sales day sparked ugly brawls last year. So the real winners will once again be online retailers, with Visa Europe estimating that over £700 million of purchases will be charged to credit cards in one day alone.

For more information on £700m in online sales thanks to pre-Christmas shopping frenzy talk to Optima WS