In more signs that the Christmas sales rush is increasingly weighted on Black Friday, the latter has now overtaken Boxing Day in online retail search volumes.
According to the BRC-Google Online Search Monitor, retail search volumes in the last quarter of the year rose three per cent across all devices, but once again “driven predominantly by mobile searches”.
“It was the weakest quarter for growth last year, but that reflects the fact that shoppers are increasingly accessing retailers’ websites via social networks and e-mail marketing, rather than using search engines,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
Growth was most prominent in the North and in Yorkshire, securing 26 per cent of all retail searched in quarter four, while London came a close second with 23 per cent.
Outside of the UK, Italy saw the most searches for UK brands reporting a growth over 30 per cent.
“Indeed, over Black Friday, a number of retailers noted that their email campaigns were particularly successful in attracting shoppers to their websites,” Dickinson said.
“This only serves to illustrate the importance for retailers of making the most of all their channels for communicating with shoppers.
Google’s retail director Martijn Bertisen added: “The Black Friday period is getting longer and, instead of staying up late to research the best deals, consumers are using their phones more than ever to research deals during morning commute times on Black Friday and at store opening times on Boxing Day.”
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