Black Friday and Cyber Monday has grown so rapidly that 27 per cent of UK adults now plan to purchase something, according to a survey conducted for PwC.
In addition, the average spend is expected to reach £203 – nearly double that of 2015 – and sales over that weekend is predicted to grow 38 per cent to £2.9 billion.
The survey also reveals that 57 per cent of consumers planning a purchase are holding off spending now in anticipation of getting a better deal during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday long weekend. Among men, that total rises to 65 per cent.
READ MORE: Comment – The pitfalls and potential of Black Friday
Black Friday is always the day after US Thanksgiving Day, which falls on November 25 this year. Cyber Monday coming close behind on November 28.
Only implemented by UK retailers two years ago, international giants like Amazon are responsible for importing this sales event from the US – although the onus is on online sales rather than the US‘ in-store sales and frenzied crowds.
Despite its rising popularity, the PwC‘s survey found that 36 per cent of UK adults have no interest in either Black Friday or Cyber Monday and 14 per cent purposely avoided them.
READ MORE: Will Black Friday affect high street footfall again?
Nonetheless, PwC retail and consumer lead Madeleine Thomson said the survey shows that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were now here to stay in the UK.
“The report also found consumers are embracing online shopping, with 77 per cent of respondents now planning on making their purchases in the sales online, compared to just 17 per cent in-store.”
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