John Lewis and HoF to offer deepest discount during 'Black Friday'

As 'Black Friday' creeps ever closer, more and more UK retailers are gearing up to offer special discounts in the hopes of cashing in on what is predicted to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. According to a new report from Visa Europe, UK consumers are expected to spend over 1 million pounds every three minutes this 'Black Friday,' which falls on November 28.

Although UK retailers usually offer a high rate of discounting in the run up to Christmas, data from Editd, a retail analytics firm, has found that an increasing number of British fashion retailers now consider 'Black Friday' as one of the main shopping dates of the year and are adjusting their offers accordingly.

"In recent years, hype surrounding Thanksgiving holiday sales has reached unprecedented levels, with retailers whipping their customers, and each other, into a frenzy of door busting deals," commented Geoff Watts, CEO at Editd. "Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all that’s in between, is a critical time for retailers in the run up to Christmas."

But which UK retailers will offer the deepest discounts this 'Black Friday,' what items are most likely to go on sale and what products should be discounted in order to capitalized on the retail holiday?

According to Editd's latest report, 'Black Friday: 2014' the biggest discounters in the UK this 'Black Friday' will be department stores or mass market retailers, such as John Lewis, House of Fraser and Debenhams. Last year John Lewis offered discount on over 10,504 products between 25 November and 3 December, and the firm predicts that the department store will offer the most discounted products again this year.

John Lewis predicted to offer the most discounted products for 'Black Friday' 2014

Other fashion retailers predicted to offer deals targeting the younger, more trend led consumer include River Island, Asos and Republic, whilst Zalando is expected to feature special promotions on its footwear assortment and luxury retailers The Corner and Farfetch are expected to offer discount on a selected range of their labels as well.

Studying data gathered during last year's 'Black Friday' Editd found that different divisions of the retail market promote different products during the holiday season. For example in the UK, the women's wear market segment focused the majority of its promotional activity on accessories (23.34 percent) followed by tops (21.80 percent) and footwear (14.33 percent). The men's wear market, on the other hand placed greater importance on discounting tops (38.71 percent) followed by accessories (16.87 percent) and outerwear (14.03 percent).

Online giant Amazon UK previously announced that it will be offering discount on over 3,000 items from 24 to 30 November, and has revealed that a number of those promotions will be on accessories such as fine diamond jewelry and designer sunglasses, which suggests that accessories will once more be listed as one of the main product divisions promoted during this year's 'Black Friday'.

Although top and accessories were the most discounted categories in the women's wear market, the data found an opportunity to boost discounts in the dress category, as dresses were the third most popular category to sell out last year, accounting for nearly 15 percent of sold out items on December 2, following accessories and tops. But the dress category only accounted for 7.4 percent of the discounted stock last 'Black Friday,' highlighting a lack of promotion activity for the category which could have been capitalized on.

The firm also used its analytics software to see which trending items would be smart to promote during 'Black Friday.' The data found that UK fashion retailers should focus on discounting printed trousers, statement outerwear such as oversize coats and capes, faux fur pieces, Christmas sweaters and Onesies in order to optimize their trend lifespan and avoiding having to carry out bigger price cuts at the end of the season to move excess stock.