Brits divided on Black Friday spending

A slender majority of Brits (43%) say they will buy something on Black Friday, closely followed by 39% who are undecided on taking part. Less than one in five (18%) have already decided they will not buy any products on the day.

Meanwhile, our new Black Friday research highlights that recent well-publicised supply chain issues are changing how a significant amount of Brits shop in the run-up to the holiday season. While most say the recent issues have not altered their approach, over a third (35%) state they’ve begun their Christmas shopping earlier than ever in response to supply chains being disrupted. 

Consumers’ attitudes towards Black Friday 2021

Of those (43%) who do plan to buy products on Black Friday:

• We found that these Brits (30%) are most likely to spend £100-200. However, around one in ten (14%) plan to splurge over £300-500 on the day, despite concerns around inflation and the general economic outlook.  

• Nearly half (48%) will buy products both in-person and online, with 42% purchasing items exclusively online.

• Technology products (59%) and clothing (57%) dominate Brits’ retail desires for the day, followed by beauty (38%), home goods (36%) and kitchen appliances (23%).

Our research also uncovers fatigue amongst consumers for month-long Black Friday bonanzas, with most (40%) wanting one to three days worth of sales, or for it to return to its roots as a one-day event (29%). 

Despite this, Black Friday does appear to loom large in the British public’s minds when trying to land a bargain. 38% believe that Black Friday is the best day of the year to buy heavily discounted products, versus just 15% who disagree. In addition, just one in ten respondents (11%) say they prefer Cyber Monday to Black Friday when hunting for bargain-basement prices. 

When it comes to retailers that are top of mind, consumers were most likely to select Amazon as their top choice for Black Friday sales, followed by Argos, Currys and John Lewis.

How Brits feel about in-store shopping

We also delved into how at ease the British public is shopping in-person despite rising Covid-19 cases. A sizable majority of nearly two-thirds (65%) say they are “comfortable” shopping in-person regardless of the ongoing pandemic. Millennials are most likely to hold this point of view, followed by Gen-Z. 

By contrast, one in ten (14%) feel uncomfortable, led, perhaps unsurprisingly by Boomers, with crowded shops and a lack of mask-wearing cited as the two biggest reasons for this apprehension for in-person shopping. 

Finally, when quizzed on how brick-and-mortar shops should approach potentially crowded in-store shopping this Black Friday, respondents say retailers should:

• Require masks in-store (40%)
• Limit the amount of persons allowed in-store at once (36%)
• Be allowed to approach in-store shopping however they want (20%)
• Should not be running in-store shopping promotions (7%)
• Should not follow any pandemic protocol (6%)