The Black Friday consumer spending frenzy got off to a strong start with early projections suggesting it will be the busiest on record in a boost for retailers after a tough year.
Figures from building society Nationwide showed that by 9am on November 24 the number of purchases was 9% higher than on the same day last year and 16% higher than in 2021.
Mark Nalder, director of payment strategy at Nationwide, said the figure for purchases before 9am “suggests that this year’s Black Friday is going to be the busiest one ever.”
The West End was particularly busy today, seen as the start of the Christmas peak shopping season, with many shoppers drawn to Oxford Street by the return of HMV’s flagship store.
Diane Wehrle, CEO of consultancy Rendle Intelligence and Insights, expected a brisk weekend of shopping with visitor numbers to central London about 8% higher than last weekend.
She added that if that happens there will be an uplift of about 2% compared with when the discounting event took place last year.
Wehrle said: “Despite some shoppers being cautious spending-wise this year, and therefore exhibiting a greater degree of discretion with regard to the number of products being bought, the impact of inflation will flow through to spend, with the value of goods purchased likely to remain at least on par if not marginally higher than last year.”
But Scott Parsons, chief operating officer UK for shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: “This year we’ve seen a mixed response, with some stores shunning Black Friday and others opting to deliver price promotions over a week or two rather than focusing on just one day."
He added: “The biggest pull for Black Friday at Westfield centres this year is the number of exciting new brands who have opened stores in time for the start of the festive shopping period.”
Parsons pointed to recent openings such as Sephora and TK Maxx.
The company expects visitors at Stratford and White City this weekend to top the 835,000 seen during the event last year.
Elsewhere in London, Capital & Regional, which owns shopping centres in Walthamstow and Wood Green, has seen strong growth in 2023 footfall against last year.
Chief executive Lawrence Hutchings said: “Retailers are increasingly utilising stores to sell directly and provide accessible collect and return points for online purchasers reinforcing the need for physical stores.”
Hutchings also said: "We are confident Black Friday will encourage shoppers both online and into physical stores."The good start to Black Friday came after a key consumer confidence indicator showed a pick up in November, albeit from low levels.
Joe Staton, client strategy director of analysts GfK, said: “Consumer confidence strengthened in November with improvements across all measures… Although the Overall Index Score is still tracking firmly in negative territory, it is good to see that consumers are more optimistic about their personal financial situation.”
