London, UNITED KINGDOM
VIJAY SHAH via SWNS digitalhub
The American commercial tradition of Black Friday has made its presence felt on our shores and high streets these past couple of year. One of the most important days for sales and footfall in the retail calendar, Black Friday is when shops slash the prices of items like white goods, clothes and electricals by as much as 50-70%. While Black Friday is a blessing for bargain hunters, it has also become notorious for scenes of absolute mayhem, with videos surfacing of shoppers tussling with and climbing over each other to hook that last widescreen smart TV. In some cases, stores participating in Black Friday sales had been forced to call police in to quell fights and near riots.
Despite the bad publicity around some incidents on Black Friday, a recent survey of 2,000 adults produced by the Nationwide building society found that one in ten Britons is still prepared to brave the crowds and stand toe-to-toe with fellow shoppers to bag those once-a-year heavily reduced must-haves. The study also found that many shoppers are prepared to tough it for the best bargains, with many survey respondents expecting to awaken their aggressive streaks as they hit the high streets for this year’s Black Friday events on November 27.
The Nationwide survey figures also show that in 2014, one in three adults made a trip to the shopping centre on Black Friday. This year, the average shopper is expected to spend £176. Altogether, customers are predicted to spend £120 million on debit cards alone, more than on December 19th, the last Friday before Christmas, when shopkeepers and retailers expect to recieve the most takings as people scour the shops for last-minute festive gifts.
Phil Smith, head of current accounts at Nationwide, which commissioned the study, said: “For many, Black Friday coincides with the last payday before Christmas, so they use it to kick-start and supplement their Christmas shopping.
“And with only a limited number of the best deals available, tensions can spill over, resulting in arguments over goods usually associated with panic buying.
‘’This means that in the cold light of day, what seemed to be a good bargain could end up being a waste of money.
“Customers should consider doing a little bit of research and planning beforehand, as many stores will advertise offers ahead of time.
‘’In doing so, we can ensure we’re buying the goods we actually want at a discounted price rather than being tempted by the lure of a bargain on something we don’t particularly need.”
The Nationwide survey also predicted the most popular Black Friday items shoppers will want on their lists include home appliances such as microwaves, coffee machines, and blenders, laptops, computer and video games and televisions.
However reduced items often quickly run out of stock, leading to customers duking it out in the aisles and jackets and hair being pulled. The Nationwide’s shopping poll discovered that men are nearly twice as likely to clash over stuff on the shelf as women. One in eight (13%) were prepared to get into an argument with another shopper, compared with 7% of surveyed female respondents. Ironically for the arguments over the last television or CD player that will be occurring in stores up and down the British Isles, the poll also discovered that one in eight adults (13%) will end up returning goods for refunds.
In fact, Black Friday could result in thousands of returned items, as more than half confessed to surrendering to impulse purchases on the day.
Nationwide’s Phil Smith added: “This Black Friday, people should consider putting money aside for something they actually want rather than simply buying something because it is listed as a bargain.
‘’The benefits of impulse saving can have a positive impact on our finances. And for those who make big home appliance purchases, consider extending your warranty to cover all eventualities.’’
Several leading high street names including Curry’s, Argos, GAME and John Lewis are already gearing up with in-store Black Friday linked promotions and figures for online shopping too are expected to reach stellar proportions. Last year, £810 million was spend online alone by UK shoppers.
halfeatenmind.wordpress.com 
This is coming to New Zealand too, but we really don’t get into such a frenzy – I hope. Maybe it is because the sale is not as extreme as in the States.
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It’s taking over the world haha..
Funnily enough, the sales for Black Friday this year as they were last. It might had had something to do with the chaotic scenes that were reported in the British media of all these shoppers fighting like crazy…and the November cold and cloudy weather may have also played its part too 😀
Thanks for commenting, Raewyn 🙂
Vijay
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Sorry to hear that you’ve imported this festival of wanton, unrestrained consumption. Consider it payback for some hideous thing you must have done when we were a colony.
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😀
First the American revolutionaries said “The British are coming!!”
Now beleagured British retail workers say “The sales are coming!!”
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