Black Friday Reigns Supreme as UK Shoppers Hold Out for Ultimate Discounts

While Amazon Prime Deals Days mark a significant event for UK shoppers, new research from Sensormatic clearly indicates that Black Friday remains the undisputed top discount day for bargain hunters. Despite 37% of UK consumers planning to engage with Amazon Prime Deals Days in October, a resounding 79% intend to shop on Black Friday, highlighting its enduring dominance in the retail calendar.

The Black Friday weekend is poised to be particularly active for physical retail. The Saturday following Black Friday (29 November) is projected to be the second busiest day for in-store footfall across the entire Christmas trading season. Furthermore, 70% of UK consumers plan to visit a store during Black Friday (28 November) this year, with 13% indicating they will visit more stores than in 2024, driven by a determined pursuit of the best deals.

Amazon Prime Deals Days, scheduled for 7-8 October, serve as the online retail giant's initial push into the Peak Trading campaign. This event offers Prime members "millions of deals" and "deep discounts" across popular gifting categories such as apparel and beauty. Last year, Amazon reported that its October Prime Days promotion was a record-breaking success, with Prime members globally saving over $1 billion through millions of offers.

However, despite the growing adoption of Amazon's early sales, a majority of UK shoppers appear to be strategically holding out on gift purchases until Black Friday. This is largely due to the perception of greater channel choice available both online and offline, as well as the availability of deals from a wider array of brands and retailers beyond the Amazon platform, which collectively "broadens Black Friday's appeal," according to the report.

Other discount events, such as Singles Day (11 November), continue to see low adoption rates in the UK when compared to both Black Friday and Amazon’s Prime Days. Even with an increasing number of brands, including Calvin Klein, ASOS, and Lookfantastic, offering Singles Day deals this year, only 9% of UK consumers plan to participate in the promotion.

The landscape of consumer spending is also influenced by broader economic factors. The Autumn Budget, falling just two days before Black Friday on 26 November, introduces an element of uncertainty. Its announcements could either stimulate greater demand for discounts as households seek to stretch their budgets further or, conversely, undermine shopper spending confidence, potentially impacting retail activity.

Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic’s EMEA Retail Consultant, commented on the deeply ingrained shopping behaviours in the UK. He noted, “Having dealt with ongoing inflation and cost-of-living pressures for such a prolonged period, astute shopping behaviours are now engrained in the UK customer psyche.” Sumpter added that "relentless bargain-hunting, highly considered purchasing and cross-checking every channel for the best prices is now second nature for hyper-savvy shoppers," which is expected to translate into elevated demand for Black Friday, thereby kicking off retailers’ Peak Trading campaigns effectively.

Reflecting on past performance, Sensormatic’s ShopperTrak Analytics platform data showed that UK retail footfall rose by 4.8% year-on-year on Black Friday (29 November 2024). This surge was attributed to pricing sensitivity boosting performance across the entire discounting period, as consumers actively sought deals to maximize their discretionary spending budgets amidst economic pressures.

Despite the positive outlook for Black Friday, Sumpter cautioned about the unknown impact of the Autumn Budget. He stated, “There is, however, still a joker in the pack. The jury’s still out on how the Autumn Budget… will impact consumer behaviour. Many retailers will fear further tax hikes and additional pressure on household incomes could risk derailing demand just before the start of their most critical trading period of the year.”