Quiet start to Black Friday on the street, big online sales expected

Retail footfall is expected to be lower than previous years, however it is believed today's Black Friday sales might be the biggest yet.

Tesco, B&M, Amazon, Sainsbury's, John Lewis and Dixons have all continued to offer Black Friday deals, however ASDA, which introduced the concept in the UK, announced it was not getting involved this year.

This year sales have been spread out over time and there’s a view that it will be more weighted to online.

Retail analyst Nick Bubb said journalists in Oxford Street and Tesco London superstores have reported a quiet start to the day.

“But they can’t tell of course how many shoppers are staying at home to shop online or how much business has been done already this week,” he noted.

“However, as that will merely represent spending sucked forward from December, it is too soon to say whether the retail sector will be any better off in net terms once the dust settles.”

Dixons Carphone chief executive Sebastian James has also been tweeting and pointing to the company’s online success so far.

“Strong start. Looking forward to Friday!” he tweeted on Tuesday.

He also signalled a jump in purchases through the group’s mobile platform, when he tweeted this morning “Website holding up really well after big investment this year. Mobile visits nearly doubled yesterday vs. Last year!”

However Kantar Retail’s Bryan Roberts said Asda's retreat might encourage other retailers to scale back on the event next year.

He noted the day is a bit of a double edged sword for retailers in the UK as it doesn’t correlate with Thanksgiving as it does in the US.

“Thanksgiving does not exist in the UK and Black Friday has been introduced into the UK market as an entirely random happening.

“While there are signs that the event is gaining traction among shoppers, it is still something of a quirky invasive species.”

He also noted the day can also be dangerous to retailers’ brands.

“A number of retailers have suffered knocks in a reputational sense thanks to US-style incidents of crowd disorder and squabbling over items.

“Thanks to social media, these incidents can rapidly snowball into unwelcome media stories.”