Black Friday: UK retailers feel the pinch as shoppers go online

Rather than battle for the best deals in stores, shoppers have chosen to pick up their bargains online, or with the click of their smartphone. As of early Friday, queues outside of stores and scuffles inside were conspicuously absent.

That's in stark contrast with two years ago, when fights broke out as consumers sought to snag cut price TVs. But retailers and their shareholders can't rejoice just yet.

Despite the efforts of some to scale back promotions this year, Black Friday is alive and well on the Internet — making the whole event even more painful for retailers.


Argos, now owned by J Sainsbury, Dixons Carphone and John Lewis all reported brisk online trading early in the day. Dixons said online orders are up 40% at its Currys PC World operation compared with last year.

Black Friday promotions have little place in the UK. Most Britons are at work on Friday rather than on holiday, and offering discounts on products that would have sold at full price in the run up to Christmas makes no sense.

Selling goods online, rather than in store, is even more challenging. Retailers have to invest cash to ensure their websites can handle the additional traffic.

Hennes & Mauritz’s main website experienced delays due to a high volume of Black Friday shoppers. Amazon.com, Argos, Tesco and Dixons Carphone have been advertising deals all week in an effort to spread the burden on their systems.

If websites don't buckle under the strain, there is the cost of transporting goods to stores for click-and-collect orders — which are usually free — or to consumers' homes, which can also sometimes be free.

In the days before Amazon disrupted shopping, consumers bore the cost of physically going to stores, picking up goods and transporting them home again.

Shifting Black Friday online does little to take away the pain for retailers. It simply makes the event even more corrosive to earnings.