Footfall figures from Black Friday are in and the results are mixed, with some analysts saying the sales event boosted footfall while others said it didn’t.
According to Ipsos Retail Performance, UK footfall on Black Friday was up 0.95 per cent year-on-year, with 42 per cent of retailers experiencing footfall growth.
However, Springboard said footfall was down 3.6 per cent compared to 2016’s Black Friday event.
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On the other hand, Barclaycard estimated that spending was up eight per cent on the day – boosted by online sales despite the varying emphasis retailers gave to online or in-store campaigns in their Black Friday strategies.
Ipsos retail intelligence director Dr Tim Denison said retailers would welcome the controlled growth on last year’s footfall.
“There had been much conjecture this year about whether Black Friday would be a hit or miss with UK shoppers, and many retailers followed the lead of their US counterparts, extending their promotional campaigns over two weeks or more, which did risk diluting the impact of the event,” he said.
“The million pound question on everyone’s lips now is how will Christmas shopping fare in the wake of the Black Friday promotional campaigns.
“Last year, sales were pulled forward by the increased November activity, and as we move into December, we’re expecting to see a repeat of last year’s pattern with footfall slow to build, after Black Friday has taken the stuffing out of bargain-hunters, but we’re predicting a resurgence of activity in the last week before Christmas.”
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