The home delivery expert ParcelHero says this Black Friday is likely to see overall UK online and High Street spending growth stall. Low consumer confidence and stretched-out, lacklustre online deals have blackened Fridayโs prospects.
Since hitting the UK with a bang in 2010 Black Friday has gone on to create new spending records every year. But now the e-commerce delivery expert ParcelHero is warning things are looking black for this weekโs Friday event: itโs saying Black Friday has had its day and is forecasting zero spending growth on Black Friday this year.
ParcelHeroโs Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT said, โIn the early years stores such as Tesco and Asda were forced to lock their doors, such was the demand; while more recently it has grown online at 12% annually. This year weโre seeing some big predictions for record Black Friday profits; but weโve been analysing data from many sources and we are not so optimistic.
โIn 2018 Black Friday made a record ยฃ2.4bn, including online sales of ยฃ1.4 bn. But while online sales were up a – slightly disappointing – 7% in comparison to 2017, town centre store sales were already down 7%. This year we believe disillusioned online shoppers will join High Street shoppers in losing interest in Black Friday, leading to no overall growth for the first time in its barnstorming ten-year history.โ
David explains, โThe fact is online shoppers now know sites are pacing their offers over not just the day or the weekend, or even the whole week; weโve seen a whole fortnight of โwarm upโ offers. Even Black Fridayโs prime instigator, Amazon, couldnโt wait beyond last Friday to kick off its Black Friday sale. Endless rolling offers take away from the need โ and letโs face it, the slight thrill โ of logging on this Friday and zeroing in on some genuinely great bargains. Black Friday has become a dull month of stock clearance; and internet shoppers are unlikely to be breaking any records this year.โ
David added, โSadly, we donโt believe there will be a resurgence in High Street spending to compensate. While some High Street stores are still climbing on the Black Friday bandwagon, beauty store Deciem is shutting up shop entirely on Friday. In a year in which even the major chains alone have closed around 6,000 stores, with Mothercare set to follow, no oneโs expecting a Black Friday boom.โ
But David does have one note of optimism: โParcelHero is already seeing around 6% more home deliveries than this time last year. People are clearly still ordering and sending presents when they see a genuine bargain, and weโre certainly expecting a healthy overall peak Christmas season; itโs just besieged Black Friday that will see zero growth. While we are dreaming of a white Christmas, weโre also fearing a very Black Friday.โ
For shoppers still hunting for bargains into December, donโt miss ParcelHeroโs invaluable online Christmas retail order tool, which gives the final ordering dates for all the major stores and is constantly updated through-out November and December: https://www.parcelhero.com/events/christmas-gifts-delivery
Leave a Comment