More than 2 billion pounds spent on Visa on Black Friday

UK consumers spent more than 2 billion pounds on Visa cards during Black Friday promotions this year, according to figures from the payments technology company.

The kick-off to the Christmas retail season also marked a significant increase in online Visa spend, in the week leading up to Black Friday it registered a 13 percent increase year-on-year, with almost 1 billion pounds spent on Black Friday itself.

Visa has also noted an uptake of contactless payment, especially across Europe, with consumers using the convenience of contactless cards increasing from 36 percent in 2015 to 52 percent in 2016. It adds that this trend is not solely reserved for younger consumers, contactless uptake has increased across all age demographics, the greatest increase has been seen within the 55-64 age bracket, which has grown by 64 percent since 2015.

Visa’s Digital Payments study also revealed that shoppers are using a combination of online and physical channels when making purchases, particularly for more expensive items. Seven in ten European consumers are “showroomers” who view an item in-store before purchasing online, while nearly as many, 66 percent “webroom”, meaning they look for the best price online, before purchasing the item in that retailer’s shop.

Despite the rise in online Christmas sales, bricks and mortar continue to be an integral part of shoppers’ behaviour with 60 percent of consumers still enjoying the experience of interacting with staff and seeing the potential gift in person.

Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa said: “With more than 2 billion pounds being spent on Visa cards in the UK on Black Friday, we continue to see an increase in the shift from cash to cards when people do their Christmas shopping. This is driven by British consumers’ increased familiarity with contactless cards and other new digital payment services.

“Consumers are now armed with a variety of new ways to pay - such as wearables and a range of digital wallet options on their mobile devices. These options provide consumers shopping in-store with a number of fast, easy and secure ways to buy.”