UK Black Friday spending could top £6.77bn

Consumers in Britain have been forecast to spend upwards of £6.77bn during the peak shopping period inspired by Black Friday, which takes place next week.

According to data released by IMRG and SimilarWeb, online retail sites in the UK will pull in £1.27bn on Black Friday itself, with the remainder of spending coming in the week-long period which surrounds the global shopping event.

Over half of the spending is forecast to be processed through mobile devices, as consumers increasingly perform their shopping transactions on tech devices.

Black Friday was launched in 2010 as a single day of discounts, before being transformed into a weekend event, followed by a week-long spend-fest in recent years.

Managing director of IMRG Justin Opie said that the annual pre-Christmas sales event has the potential to evolve further in years to come.

"Black Friday as an event has shown a remarkable capacity for evolving each year and it seems set to change further this year," said Opie

"Looking back at the 2015 holiday season, we can see that Black Friday was the highest online traffic day in the UK with a 34% increase in visits versus other days in the season. Boxing Day comes in at a close second," commented SimilarWeb's Marketing VP Nitzan