Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  I don't know really.
It wouldn't surprise me if the news said record amounts had been spent in the run up to Christmas.
As for Black Friday. It's an American tradition so it can bugger off back there as far as i'm concerned. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to push Thanksgiving over here in the near future. |
This is interesting. Apparently more money will be spent this year on Black Friday, and the associated period, than ever before. However, it won't necessarily mean more spending throughout the year, or be good for various parts of the British infrastructure.
From the
Guardian:
The association for online retailers, IMRG, predicted £1.27bn would be spent online on Friday, up 16% on last year. It will be the busiest day in a week-long spending orgy that is expected to see retailers ring up online sales of £6.77bn in the seven days to Monday 28 November.
“Black Friday started out as a single day of discounting, which then became a weekend and now spans an entire week, during which time we anticipate that a high volume of pre-Christmas sales will be made,” said IMRG’s managing director, Justin Opie.
It has become increasingly hard for retailers to hold their prices in the face of rivals’ Black Friday discounts as industry sales data shows Britons are not spending more, they are just starting their Christmas shopping earlier.
Paul Martin, the UK head of retail at KPMG, said the traditional Christmas shopping period had been distorted by Black Friday.
“For retailers it has always been questionable whether Black Friday really benefits them in the long run, and in the current environment of rising costs and squeezed margins – perhaps it’s even more so,” he said. “This year some retailers have decided not to partake, while others have spread their offers out over a longer period in order to ease pressure on logistics and IT infrastructure.”
The surge in orders stemming from Black Friday puts major strain on both retailers’ websites and the couriers that deliver parcels. Last year the websites of large retailers, including Argos, Tesco, John Lewis and Boots, crashed due to the volume of shoppers logging on. Now, with more consumers than ever choosing next-day delivery, industry experts think carriers may struggle to keep delivery promises.
“Some retailers have gone to great lengths to ensure they are ready and others less so, but even big e-retailers, such as Amazon, have experienced issues on busy days like Black Friday,” said Robert Castley, a senior performance engineer at the digital analytics firm Catchpoint.