Retailers are gearing up for the anticipated surge in footfall and Black Friday sales this year following on from the success of Black Friday 2014. 66% of those polled as part of Hammerson’s Shopper Tribes Report said they took advantage of Black Friday offers to treat themselves as opposed to purchasing Christmas gifts.
The report analysed the purchasing habits of different ages groups and found that 84% of women between the ages of 18 and 34 use Black Friday specials to treat themselves to fashion or homewares rather than to take advantage of Christmas gifting deals, whereas 74% of shoppers aged over 55 said that the event had absolutely no impact on the timing of their Christmas shopping.
Retailers can expect higher volumes of footfall and sales this year as 64% of shoppers polled claiming to have saved a lot of money last year. There is evidence that retailers have invested heavily in logistics and increasing multichannel capabilities in order to manage increased demand.
David Atkins, CEO Hammerson commented: “Early indications from retailers across our UK shopping centres is that Black Friday 2015 will be even bigger and better than last year’s event. Mindful of protecting sales in the key Christmas trading period, retailers have indicated that a number of offers will be held back for December, although exclusive offers across electricals, clothing and footwear are expected to whet consumers’ appetite during Black Friday through to Cyber Monday”.
Source: Hammerson
