With consumers increasingly valuing sustainability and waste reduction, 85% of independent retailers in the UK skipped Black Friday sales.
Black Friday this year recorded the first YoY decrease in online revenue, with ecommerce sales dropping by 14% in the UK, and 1% in the US. Last year shoppers took to online shopping a lot more, given the then-prevalent nationwide lockdowns, high COVID-related anxiety and limited access to physical stores.
This year, in-store traffic saw a 47.5% YoY increase in the US. Nonetheless, in-store traffic for Black Friday was still down by 28.3% than last year. Lingering pandemic fears, especially over the Omicron variant and familiarity with online shopping, are likely to blame.
However, in the UK, shopping centres saw an 18% YoY increase in footfall, while high street recorded a 0.5% YoY drop. This is the first footfall drop in the history of Black Friday in the UK. US ecommerce spending in November jumped by 11.9%. This is because supply chain issues pushed customers to plan and shop earlier than usual.
[6 minute read]
