BLACK Friday could last all of November this year, as experts predict sales will start earlier than ever to avoid crowds in stores.
It comes amid on-going coronavirus restrictions, including asking customers to social distance and limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside.
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Brits will also likely see more online-only discounts after the pandemic sparked a huge surge in households relying on online shopping.
Black Friday falls on November 27 this year but sales have previously started two weeks before this date.
Richard Lim, of analysts Retail Economics, told The Sun: “The challenge for retailers is dealing with capacity issues, so it makes sense for them to spread out Black Friday.
“In the past we’ve seen it turn from a week, to 10 days, but this year it’s likely to be a Black November event.
“Black Friday is also being more established as an online-only event. This year will be the biggest online Black Friday ever in the UK.”
How to compare prices to get the best deal
JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn’t mean it’s always a good deal.
There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
- Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.
- Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.
- Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.
- CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of.
The majority of retailers are still remaining tight-lipped on when they’ll start their Black Friday deals.
But The Telegraph reports that Boots will run sales all month “to give customers more time to shop and help manage the number of people in stores”.
The newspaper also says Matalan will run online-only deals, while Robert Dyas will start its sales 10 days early.
Meanwhile, deal hunters at Money Saver Online are also predicting early Black Friday sales, including at Amazon, which is rumoured to start its deals from the end of October.
The Entertainer and Studio, meanwhile, are predicted to launch discounts as soon as November 9.
As these are just predictions, we won’t know what exactly each retailer has in store until they officially announce their sales.
Retailers are also still expected to run Cyber Monday discounts, but again, we can’t be sure what will be on offer until nearer the time.
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Andy Mulcahy from the IMRG, the industry body for online retailers, said he also expects earlier Black Friday offers this year.
He told The Sun: “We can expect Black Friday discounts to be widely available earlier than last year.
“Some retailers have already announced they will be offering them across the whole of November, so you don’t have to wait until the end of November to get a deal.
“The key thing is to leave as little as possible to the last minute this year.”
Last year saw footfall in stores increase by 6% on Black Friday compared to Black Friday 2018.
Meanwhile, shoppers are also being urged to buy Christmas presents early this year to avoid chaotic scenes in stores.
The IMRG is predicting delivery backlogs if Brits leave their shopping until the last minute, as they estimate shops could face a 30% increase in online orders.
However, its analysts say shoppers shouldn’t start panic buying – it’s more a case of spreading out their spending.
Separate figures show Turkey orders at Waitrose are up 145% on this time last year, while Sainsbury’s has already sold 1.5million mince pies.
Its sales of Christmas puds are also up a third, and Argos has shifted 13,000 Christmas trees — up 170% on 2019.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says spreading out your shop will also allow warehouse workers and delivery drivers to keep a safe distance apart as they’ll need less people on shifts.
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