UK consumers waiting on Black Friday to break out their wallets

Although nearly half of UK consumers recently revealed they had no plans to take part in Black Friday, new research shows that more than half of all shoppers are holding off on shopping until Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

More than a quarter of UK consumers plan on buying something this Black Friday or Cyber Monday, which falls on Friday November 25 and November 28 respectively, according to a survey conducted by PwC. And these shoppers aim to spend big, as they expect to spend an average of 203 pounds.

However, not everyone is a fan of Black Friday, as PwC's online survey, which was taken by 2,000 shoppers across the country found. In fact, over a third of UK consumers have no interest what so ever in Black Friday or Cyber Monday, with one in seven purposely avoiding them. This supports previous research from consultancy firm Future Thinking, which found that 50 percent of consumers are not impressed with Black Friday deals.

"Our research shows Black Friday and Cyber Monday are definitely here to stay, with sales over the weekend due to grow by a predicted 38 percent to 2.9 billion pounds and 57 percent of consumers who are planning to shop holding off on planned purchases in anticipation of getting a better deal during the sales period," said Madeleine Thomson, retail and consumer lead at PwC.

"Nearly a third of respondents expected goods to be cheaper than across pre-Christmas sales. The average expected spend is 203 pounds, nearly double that of 2015, and higher amongst men and younger consumers, with the majority of people expecting to spend the most on electrical and technology (55 percent).

“The report also found consumers are embracing online shopping, with 77 percent of respondents now planning on making their purchases in the sales online, compared to just 17 percent in store.”

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