All this fuss about Black Friday, an American import dreamed
up as a marketing exercise to drum up retail sales after Thanksgiving, and it is taking root in the UK. Retailers here are all going for it.
Indeed consumer spending leading up to the
forthcoming festive season is driven up a gear by the promotions and retailers
should benefit from stronger sales this Christmas, at least that’s what
business advisory firm Deloitte is predicting in a recent report. It states that consumers will spend over 42
billion pounds this Christmas, up 4 percent on last year. That’s around £1.5 billion more than they did
last year.
The new report released by Deloitte also states online sales are expected to account
for 13 percent of December takings, and the growing importance of click &
collect will see 2.5 billion pounds in sales this Christmas ordered online and
collected in-store. At 45 percent of all
online transactions, this is almost double the level seen in December 2013.
Deloitte head of retail Ian Geddes said: "Growth in the
influence of digital on physical retail has been driven by consumers' desire to
access information on products and services, compare prices and increasingly
pay and transact via digital devices.
"Those retailers that have invested in developing apps
may now find that if these are only optimised for use as a separate channel,
rather than an integrated part of the shopping experience, they will not be fit
for purpose."
Sales via mobile devices are expected to account for 45
percent of UK online purchases during the festive season, according to online
retailers' association IMRG.
By Alan Tyler
Managing Editor, My Fashion Connect
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