Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as expected, whipped up a retailing storm in Britain over the weekend, with online shopping up significantly on the previous year.
According to research from Experian, online traffic on Black Friday beat all predictions, with a 60% year on year rise resulting in 180 million visits to UK retail websites and an estimated spend of £810 million.
Giles Longhurst, general manager of consumer insight at Experian, said that the increase in visitor numbers to websites “clearly shows that both British shoppers and British retailers have fully embraced the Black Friday trend.
“With such a massive amount of money and time being spent online, shoppers have really begun the Christmas retail season with a bang.”
Not content with the first set of sales, Cyber Monday saw shoppers spend another whopping £720 million, with 161 million visits to online retail sites – a 40% increase on 2013.
“More than ever before, online shopping is becoming part of leisure activity for consumers, particularly among more tech savvy groups – such as young families – who have access to the latest technology,” added Longhurst.
“Retailers have made great efforts to optimise the shopping experience across tablets, smartphones and PCs, bringing online shopping to more people and boosting shopping convenience significantly.
“To make the most of this time of year, retailers need to make sure that they are engaging with customers at the right time and through the right channel to provide them with information on deals that are of most interest.”
