The words Black Friday used to conjure images of frenzied shoppers racing to the shops and to their computers to nab as many bargains as possible. This year it is likely to be a more muted affair, with spending on non-essentials expected to fall amid cost of living pressures and the distractions of the football World Cup.
It’s forecast that Britons will spend £22.62bn over the two-week Black Friday period, which runs from 22 November until 5 December. That is a 2.1% increase year on year, but once inflation has been taken into account it actually means they will be putting fewer items into their baskets, according to research by GlobalData for Vouchercodes. This is a marked slowdown for the US-inspired discount day, which has gradually become an online event. There have been few queues outside shops in the UK since early exuberance led to scuffles in 2014.
