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This week I celebrated Thanksgiving with American friends in London, some of whom returned to the capital for the first time since COVID-19. They are baffled by how big Black Friday has become here, and how Brits ignore the best part, dinner with their closest friends, and the worst part, bargain shopping. I paid attention to what was being imported.
Black Friday’s arrival here may be due to Amazon and Walmart, the former owner of Asda supermarkets, which started the trend a decade ago. But the brands participating in this annual discount jamboree are bulging in duration as well.
Most retailers call this Black Friday week, some call it Black November, and you can be sure that this discount will last until Christmas.
As the conversation heated up around the Thanksgiving table, there were clear signs of Black Friday fatigue, rather than the excitement of bargains. Now largely an online phenomenon in the UK, smart brands are building huge marketing databases by offering discounts to internet shoppers who register their details. Since Halloween, we’ve all been bombarded with texts, emails, and in-app notifications offering “early access” to promotions, discount codes, and all sorts of other spending temptations.
Retailers aren’t the only ones sending spam emails. Airlines, carriers, gyms and more are getting in on the action. I received a Black Friday email from my dentist offering 10% off teeth whitening. The other is an email from an investment platform claiming that UK stocks are a bargain. Some of these discounts are starting to have an air of desperation given last month’s unexpectedly low retail sales. Do these really tempt online shoppers to splurge or simply unsubscribe?
Lisa Hooker, industry leader for consumer markets at PwC, said part of the hype was due to Black Friday, which will be held later this year, coinciding with payday for millions of UK workers. It is said that If retailers find out you’ve spent money in the past, they’ll be eager to take a cut of your Black Friday spending.
“As the use of technology and data becomes more sophisticated, retailers are getting smarter about how they use purchase and browsing history to engage with shoppers,” she says.
This week I clicked on a Black Friday email from my favorite clothing store. It was 25% off all dresses. I couldn’t find anything I liked. Two hours later I received the following email: “Clar, can I have another look?”
It felt like I was being cyberstalked. But Kien Tan, senior retail advisor at PwC, said Gen Z customers are far more receptive to such prompts and are far more likely to spend. But his research shows that interest in Black Friday has polarized British shoppers, with half planning to buy something this year and half planning to avoid it.
Overall, PwC expects Black Friday spending in the UK to rise to £7bn this year as cost of living pressures ease slightly, but still 10 per cent below the pre-pandemic peak. True success will be measured by how well mark-cutting retailers are able to maintain their profit margins.
Targeted promotions, rather than storewide discounts, should help in this quest. It also smooths out the Black Friday peak over several weeks or a month, reducing pressure on supply chain logistics and the growing headaches of online return processing.
Nevertheless, we were surprised to find that men are predicted to spend more on Black Friday than women this year. Tan points out that this is because men are targeting the purchase of big-ticket tech products for themselves, and that new gadgets, games and software releases tend to take place in the fall. (VR headsets are especially popular this year). Women, on the other hand, tend to start their Christmas shopping earlier and spend their money buying discounted gifts for others.
Black Friday rejects may wonder if some of these discounts are illusory. Nine out of 10 Black Friday sales from major retail groups in 2023 were the same price or lower than at any other time that year, according to research by consumer group Which? .
But next year will be a real test for both consumers and retailers. The UK’s biggest private sector employer, the retail industry, has been agitating about the National Insurance increase in the Budget, which will wipe out billions of dollars in revenue. In addition to cutting jobs, business owners have warned that they will have to pass on price increases to shoppers. Consumers could become even more wary if inflation and unemployment statistics start trending upward. The impact on the UK economy will not be positive. While bargains last, be thankful for bargains and bargain hunters.
Claer Barrett is the FT’s consumer editor. claer.barrett@ft.com;Instagram @Claerb
