• Black Friday blowout: Shoppers set to splurge £2.31 million per minute on Black Friday alone, a 19 per cent increase on 2015 sales
• High street hordes versus online eagles: 37 per cent of shoppers set to hunt for bargains online, while 63 per cent of shoppers are set to pound the pavements
• co.uk customers saved around £358,000 on Black Friday in 2015
• Computer games, clothes, gadgets and booze amongst top items Brits are hoping to bag a bargain on this Black Friday

New research from VoucherCodes.co.uk, part of RetailMeNot, and the Centre for Retail Research reveals that Brits will be spending an impressive £1.96 billion on Black Friday this year, up 19 per cent on last year and equating to a massive £2,313,760per minute. Falling on Friday 25^th November, Black Friday kicks off a four-day sales weekend for 14 million shoppers in Britain – with UK sales accounting for 60 per cent of total Black Friday expenditure across Europe this year.

Big ticket spending online

Black Friday deals are no longer confined to high street shoppers, despite traditionally being hailed as an in-store savings day. The report reveals that 37 per cent of Brits will be logging on from the comfort of their homes this year to avoid the crowds and bag the best bargains online. Online spend for Black Friday this year is expected to reach a massive £1 billion, up 16 per cent from 2015 (£853m). In contrast, the majority of Brits (63 per cent) will still be shopping on the high street, but spending a lower total of £961m – suggesting that Brits prefer to make those big ticket purchases online versus in-store.

The report also highlights the continued rise in popularity for mCommerce amongst British consumers, this year a massive 59 per cent of Black Friday’s online sales are set to be made via a mobile device – accounting for £591 million of the total spend on 25^th November. 

Timing is everything

Brits are known for braving early starts in aid of bagging themselves a great deal and VoucherCodes.co.uk customers are no different. Last Black Friday, pre-work bargain hunters were behind the biggest spike in visitors to the site –  with 8am proving to be the peak time for savvy shoppers hunting down the best deals over their morning cup of coffee. The data reveals that Brits are willing to get up increasingly early each year to seek out that all important deal, in 2014 website traffic spiked at 8.36am and it was a more laid-back 9.52am in 2013. 

Savvy Savers

The four-day shopping bonanza from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday was one of the biggest weekends of the year for discounts on VoucherCodes.co.uk in 2015. Over the course of cyber weekend, the VoucherCodes.co.uk team addedover 7,000 offers to the site, equating to an average of 100 new deals every hour. With purchases from department stores, women’s fashion outlets, health & beauty and electronics topping the list of popular Black Friday purchases made last year, on Cyber Weekend 2015 VoucherCodes.co.uk members collectively saved a whopping £915,000 – the biggest saving made by a VoucherCodes.co.uk customer in one transaction amounted to a hefty £788. This year, VoucherCodes.co.uk predicts its members could save a massive £388,000 on Black Friday alone – up 8.5 per cent from 2015.

“The demand for Black Friday deals has gone through the roof in recent years, with savvy shoppers taking advantage of the opportunity to get a great deal on everything from toys to tech ahead of Christmas. Last year’s Black Friday was the biggest ever in the UK, British shoppers splurged a total of £1.65bn snapping-up bargains in the 24 hour period and we saw 397 per cent more visitors to VoucherCodes.co.uk on the day itself compared to the average day in 2015,” said Claire Davenport, Managing Director at VoucherCodes.co.uk, part of RetailMeNot.

“This year, whilst growth in spending is supposed to be slightly more modest compared to previous years (our research predicts a 19 per cent year-on-year increase in spending for Black Friday) the date will be a key one for shoppers and retailers alike.”

Must haves for Black Friday 2016

A separate online survey by YouGov reveals that 22 per cent of UK adults are feeling positive about the upcoming Black Friday sales, with over one third (36 per cent) of those who feel positive about Black Friday revealing it will allow them to purchase items they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford.

Categories expected to do well this year include DVDs, computer games and books, followed by clothing, footwear and accessories ahead of the festive party season.

Almost three in ten (29 per cent) of Brits shopping on Black Friday this year plan on getting a bigger ticket item on Black Friday such as a new TV, perhaps in preparation for home entertaining over the festive season – up from just 17 per cent of Brits in 2015 – and just over one in ten (13 per cent) also plan on using the discount day to stock up on tipples ahead of Christmas. 

The top ten items that Brits will shop for on Black Friday 2016

1. Gifts for others (64 per cent)
2. DVDs, computer games and books (40 per cent)
3. Clothing, footwear or accessories (37 per cent)
4. Personal gadgets (29 per cent)
5. Home electronics (TVs, speakers etc.) (29 per cent)
6. Cosmetics or perfume (28 per cent)
7. Toys (22 per cent)
8. Homewares (e.g. crockery, furniture, furnishings, etc.) (22 per cent)
9. Alcoholic drinks (13 per cent)
10. Food (8 per cent)

“It is brilliant to see consumers making the most of the Cyber Weekend sales in the run up to Christmas and realising what incredible savings there are to be had – especially when you plan ahead and do your research! With 65 per cent of UK retailers taking part in Black Friday last year, we anticipate that number to be even higher for 2016 which means even more savings to be passed onto shoppers, helping them stay on top of their finances over the festive season.”added Claire Davenport, Managing Director at VoucherCodes.co.uk.