· Almost a third (29%) of Brits took advantage of Black Friday sales, spending on average £41 in stores and £92 each online
· Giving into temptation: one in six Brits (17%) bought things they didn’t need
· Shopping on credit: one in ten (12%) men borrowed money to hit this year’s sales
· Surfing the web: one in six (16%) men have shopped during work hours
Once again the phenomenon of Black Friday has hit British high streets in the run up to Christmas and Opinium Research analysed the nation’s behaviour in response to several days of deals and discounts with some surprising results*.
Despite the hype, the majority (69%) of Brits avoided Black Friday. Of those who did take advantage of the sales (29% overall) most avoided the madness of the stores and stuck to online shopping (81% versus 35% who shopped in store). However, almost half (47%) of those aged 18-34 years and Londoners (49%) sought out a bargain compared to the rest of the population (29%).
For those who did venture out, the average sum spent was £41, rising to £63 among Londoners, while on average £92 was spent bagging deals online equating to a whopping £2 billion, with over one in ten (13%) spending £200.
The lure of the sales meant that one in ten (9%) Black Friday shoppers travelled further than they usually would (rising to 23% among Londoners) and another 12% visited shops they never normally would, while nearly just under one in six (17%) succumbed to temptation and bought things they wouldn’t have otherwise purchased. Worryingly, the survey also revealed that 1.4 million1 people (9%) admitted to borrowing money to make the most of the sales – this is more prevalent amongst male shoppers (12%) and those aged between 18 and 34 (15%).
Shopping kings
Men are revealed to be the most organised and methodical when it comes to hitting the sales, perhaps unexpectedly so, with:
· Nearly a quarter (22%) of male shoppers browsing the stores in advance vs 16% of women
· One in six (15%) trying products on in store ahead of time to know exactly what to purchase (versus 9% of women)
· Nearly one in five men (19%) admitted they drew up a plan on how to tackle the sales (where to go, how much to spend etc.) compared to just one in ten women (9%).
The survey also revealed that it is male shoppers (16%) who are more likely to have done shopping during their working hours compared to women (12%) and again are more likely to have pulled a sickie to go shopping (6% vs just 1% of women).
The curse of Black Friday
It is unsurprising that Black Friday shoppers ran into some dramas and difficulties whilst out and about:
Problems that have occurred on Black Friday
%
Everything ran out really quickly and there were not enough products to go around
13%
I bought items that I then realised I didn’t want and had to return them
10%
The shop staff were ill-prepared for the madness of Black Friday
10%
I was stuck in a large crowd of shoppers
9%
I have queued for a significant amount of time (e.g. 2 hours plus) to get what I wanted to buy
8%
I got up early and queued outside a shop in advance of it opening
8%
I have fought with other customers
7%
I have been injured
7%
Across the country, it was Londoners who were most likely to be involved in issues while shopping – more than a fifth (22%) argued with other customers and a quarter were injured (compared to national average of 7%), while 34% bought items they realized they didn’t want and had to return them.
Steve Looney from Opinium Research who commissioned the study, commented:
“There has been a lot of discussion around the death of Black Friday this year. But based on our research, it looks like Black Friday is definitely here to stay – albeit in a different form. Our findings indicate a growing role for online shopping with over 80% of shoppers taking to their keyboards rather than the high street. But with over a million shoppers borrowing to buy, we may be seeing the start of a longer Christmas debt hangover than in previous years.”
