Black Friday set to be ‘busiest ever’ as spending beats last year

This year’s Black Friday could be the “busiest ever” as shoppers shake off cost-of-living woes to make the most of festive deals, spending data has revealed.

Nationwide Building Society said that sales volumes on Friday show people have been making more purchases than this time last year.

By 5pm, customers had made 6.66 million transactions – 11% higher than a typical Friday and 3% more than Black Friday last year.

Mark Nalder, director of payment strategy at Nationwide, said the morning’s purchase data “suggests that this year’s Black Friday is going to be the busiest one ever”.

“The early evening typically sees a post-work peak in Black Friday spending as people head to the shops after work or search for the best deals online while relaxing at home,” Mr Nalder added.

“Despite cost-of-living pressures, shoppers are making the most of the deals on offer and grabbing a bargain.”

Analysts MRI Software said data up to 3pm showed footfall across all UK retail destinations was up 8.2% compared to the week before.

Retailers have launched sales and shopping deals hoping to lure in shoppers with discounted prices in the run-up to Christmas.

Electricals chain Currys said sales of some of its tech products have more than doubled this month as it rolled out new deals.

Strong demand for games consoles saw sales jump by 131% in recent weeks, compared with average weekly sales over the previous six weeks, amid the launch of new video game Call of Duty – which it said was already a Black Friday bestseller.

Beauty tools have soared by 190%, coffee machines up by 105%, and air fryer sales up by 75% over the same period, Currys revealed.

Data from the firm, which processes nearly half of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions, showed spending volumes were up 1.4% in the week to Wednesday compared with the equivalent week last year.

Marc Pettican, the head of payments at Barclaycard, told the PA news agency: “Black Friday is no longer a single day… we start to see changes in behaviours throughout the whole month of November as retailers start to discount earlier.”

The sales season is also not just a “retail phenomenon”, with other industries including hospitality and travel taking advantage of increased demand.

“What we’ve been seeing more generally is people spending more on essential items than they are discretionary,” Mr Pettican told PA.

“In a world where you’ve got rising interest rates and inflation, I think people are definitely looking to get a bargain.”

Supermarkets like Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer have launched new savings on Black Friday across their food, clothing and homeware brands, while Amazon has deals across its website for a week.