// Early Black Friday offers may have “cannibalised” Christmas sales, new data reveals

// Instore and online like-for-like sales rose 4.1 percentage points this November

Retailers that introduced early and larger Black Friday discounts may have “cannibalised” their own December sales.

Data from BDO’s High Street Tracker suggests retailers could see weaker sales in December with consumers getting their Christmas shopping done early.

The tracker showed total like-for-like sales both in-store and online in November grew 4.1 percentage points to last year’s figures.

Fashion continues to be the strongest-performing sector surging 8.5 percentage points year on year.

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The lifestyle sector saw like-for-like sales drop 0.3 percentage points making it the lowest level since February 2021.

Meanwhile, homeware like-for-like sales rose slightly to 1.2 percentage points compared the year before despite experiencing a slight uplift in demand with consumers watching the World Cup 2022 tournament at home.

BDO head of retail and wholesale Sophie Michael said retailers who introduced “more substantial Black Friday discounts” this year could potentially have “cannibalised” December sales as “many consumers will have completed their Christmas shopping already”.

“With the consumer purse already under so much pressure, it would be no surprise to see retailers record weak sales in December.

“Although footfall increased over November, this did not translate into significant increases in in-store sales.

Consumers reducing their discretionary spending and the Christmas rail strikes will put further pressure on in-store sales, said Michael.

“It would be no surprise if festive cheer is thin on the ground this Christmas among retailers, given the outlook for December and beyond.”

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