UK online Black Friday sales increased by 11.7 percent

The amount spent on UK online retail sites on Black Friday 2017 was up 11.7 percent to 1.39 billion pounds, according to data from IMRG, up on the 9 percent originally forecast as growth for the day.

Of that spend, 39 percent was completed on a smartphone, with the device taking the highest share of sales against desktop and tablet. While this is not the first time this device has accounted for the highest share, it is unusual given Friday was a standard working day, people tend to use their smartphones for convenience, and many would have had access to their desktops at work.

IMRG reports the stronger-than-expected performance was down to a number of factors including that many retailers launched their Black Friday discounting campaigns in advance of the day itself, extending the peak activity over a longer period.

Throughout November, IMRG tracked 210 retailers as part of this research and founded that the number running Black Friday specific campaigns peaked on the Friday at 168. However, at the beginning of the week, there were already 77 actively promoting Black Friday campaigns, as well as 37 running their own discount campaigns, with that number increasing sharply on both Wednesday and Thursday.

It was the Wednesday before Black Friday when retailer’s activity started to really accelerate as many switched on their campaigns, yet this was not reflected in the sales growth for that day, up just 2.8 percent, and by far the lowest rate for any day that week.