Stores have emerged as the biggest beneficiary on Black Friday so far as online traffic and sales lag behind last year’s figures.

NEW golden quarter logo black (Nov 2021)

The latest data from Springboard and IMRG paints a polarised picture, with customers favouring physical retail destinations over online shopping.

It marks a stark turnaround in shopping habits compared to last year’s event when spending was driven online in the midst of the pandemic. 

Springboard footfall data showed shopper numbers were up across all retail locations on a week-on-week basis. Shopping centres registered a 16% jump in traffic up until midday today, compared to November 19. Shopper numbers were up 10.7% in retail parks and 1.3% on high streets compared to the previous Friday.  

Across all shopping destinations, the average uptick in shopper numbers this morning was 7.2%. 

 

However, footfall remained well below pre-pandemic levels, with traffic down 24.2% overall. Despite that statistic, Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said the data was “very positive” for bricks and mortar retailers. 

Larger shopping centres enjoyed an uptick, with Springboard data reporting that malls over 500,000 sq ft enjoyed a 29.1% uptick in footfall compared to last Friday. The number of shoppers flocking to centres between 250,000 sq ft and 500,000 sq ft climbed 11.1%. 

By region, Central London enjoyed the biggest Black Friday footfall boost, jumping 13.3% this morning despite ongoing strike action impacting the tube. Regional cities registered a 7.9% rise in footfall week on week, while outer London boroughs clocked up a 1.8% increase. 

Lexicon Bracknell

Footfall at shopping centres rose 16% on Black Friday compared to previous week

The West End

After a slow start to the day in London’s prime shopping district, shopper numbers climbed gradually between 8.30am and 1pm. The only queues prior to stores opening formed outside John Lewis, with electricals, toys and beauty proving the most popular departments.  

The likes of JD Sports (50% off) and Schuh (up to 70% off) went big on their Black Friday deals, while House of Fraser and H&M only offered discounts to their loyalty card members. Selfridges and TK Maxx drove strong footfall to their stores without participating in Black Friday promotions.  

General discounting levels were minimal compared to previous years as several retailers sought to protect margins and drive spend after a torrid year. River Island only offered 20% off to customers spending over £75, for example, while Sports Direct offered a £20 voucher to shoppers who spent more than £100. Grace Bowden

Westfield Stratford

Westfield Stratford on Black Friday 2021

Westfield unveiled a four-day Black Friday event, running from today until Cyber Monday. Across its Stratford and London centres, Westfield is offering discounts on more than 800 brands.

Many stores in Stratford were well prepared for Black Friday, with dedicated window displays touting deals. Footwear stores, such as Schuh and Foot Locker, were particularly popular, while sports fashion rivals JD Sports and Adidas also offered substantial deals. 

Electrical stores were also poised to meet demand with Samsung offering targeted deals, while Curry’s highlighted “that Black Friday feeling” on its displays.

However, the busiest stores were actually those with no focused Black Friday deals – Apple, Zara and Primark were among those driving the most footfall. Caoimhe Gordon

York

Primark York Black Friday 2021

Black Friday promotions were prominent in York. Some retailers put their own distinct spin on the event, while big names conspicuously did not take part.

Chains ranging from The Body Shop and The Works through to JD Sports and well-known local department store Browns all offered discounts. Although the streets bustled with shoppers by lunchtime, there were no queues – perhaps indicative of the extent of online shopping.

One trend starting to emerge was limiting discounts to membership scheme members – an approach taken by H&M and Levi’s.

The latter dubbed the day Indigo Friday – the switch of colour in reference to the dye used to colour its denim – while Smiggle adopted Colour Friday, reflecting its colourful product range.

Prominent among the retailers not taking part were Primark, whose ‘Your kind of party from £13’ window (pictured) confidently proclaimed its everyday low prices stance, and Marks & Spencer. George MacDonald

By comparison, online sales flagged last year’s total. Data from IMRG suggested a “notable dip” in Black Friday deals participation online compared to 2020 – the 196 Black Friday campaigns live today was 24 fewer than on the same day last year.

IMRG said many retailers started their online Black Friday promotions earlier this year than in 2020 – a move that may have pulled online spending forward away from the day itself. Week-on-week sales growth between the second and third week of November was weaker than normal, rising 10% this year compared to more than 20% in previous years.

“Those early campaigns might have pulled spending volume forward,” IMRG strategy and insight director Andy Mulcahy said. “Black Friday week will need to be very strong for the amount of money spent online to reach its usual levels.”

H&M York Black Friday 2021

Retailers such as H&M were only offering Black Friday discounts to loyalty customers

Mulcahy said online sales in October were down 11% year on year against strong comparatives. “There is a sort of rationalisation going on,” he said. “You can’t go much higher than [the online sales figures] during lockdown.”

He pointed to the electricals category, which enjoyed a 140% spike in online sales during Black Friday 2020, but was down approximately 8% so far this year.

Barclaycard said the volume of card payments made before 1pm today rose 23.3% compared to Black Friday 2020 and climbed 4.2% on Black Friday 2019.

Although the data did not break out the split between transactions made in-store and online, Barclaycard Payments chief executive Rob Cameron said shoppers were “making the most of shops being open to pick up a festive bargain”.

Cameron said the transaction data was “extremely promising” and suggested the day was on course to be “one of the most successful Black Friday shopping sprees on record”.

‘Brisk’ start for retailers

John Lewis sold 286 items every minute online between 9am and 10am this morning, as trade at its stores built throughout the day.

The department store group’s trade planning and optimisation director John Williams said: “We have seen particularly strong demand across fashion and beauty ranges. Black Friday itself has got off to a brisk start with our customers being quick to take advantage of new offers launched today.”

Currys said it has serviced 56 online purchases every minute between Thursday and Friday morning. Chief supply chain officer Lindsay Haselhurst added the retailer had a “strong start” to the Black Friday period, having launched deals three weeks ahead of the big day and five days earlier than in 2020. 

She added that “a very significant number of customers” were shopping in stores today. Haselhurst said the trend was “great for our supply chain as it allows us to share demand” and insisted it was an endorsement of the role of Currys stores and staff, as consumers seek advice prior to purchasing.

The retailer flagged that games consoles (up 580%), headphones (414%) and televisions (285%) had all driven huge spikes in sales during November compared to last month. 

M&S Black Friday

Beauty has been a popular category for several retailers this Black Friday

Online retailers painted a more subdued picture of the day so far. The likes of Amazon, Very and eBay all said sales had been spread across a wider period of time after starting their promotions earlier in the month. 

Amazon said beauty, home, kitchen and home entertainment have been its most popular categories with best-selling products including the Amazon Echo Dot and Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner. 

It also promised customers “thousands more deals” between now and Cyber Monday.

eBay general manager Murray Lambell said: “We know that customers are really interested in thinking about this whole period. Whether it’s that they are buying earlier [for Christmas], which we have definitely seen, or they are going to leave it a bit later based on what happens, it’s all to play for.”

Very Group chief executive Henry Birch said: “Over the past few years, we’ve spread promotional activity beyond just Black Friday. For us, that means that we can manage the demand and increased volumes across an extended buying period rather than in a one day spike.”

AO, which warned on profits earlier this week, said traffic to its website had been “softer” than on Black Friday last year. The etailer, which kicked off its promotions on November 10, said “some days we’ve been up year-on-year, other days have been down. We’re not sure yet where we’ll come out in terms of the whole promo period.”

The spokesman conceded that sales across the Black Friday period would be below last year’s total but they would still be “way up on two years ago”.