6 Things you need to know about Black Friday

Black Friday November 2022 – Prospero Commerce annual poll of UK consumers

Prospero Commerce’s latest findings from our annual Black Friday poll of consumers across the UK. We tried to understand the motivations and sentiment of UK shoppers and how they are adapting to the challenges they face at Christmas 2022.

Our headline findings show:

More than a quarter of those polled do not trust Black Friday discounts

There is a growing sense that trust is being broken down – we all know how easy it is to keep track of prices these days - and this is leading to a fair amount of cynicism amongst the population. The number of people who admitted to doing their research reached a high of over 50% this year – almost all of which is online.

Early day analysis suggests the event generated growth ahead of last year – which in the current climate might surprise some. However, our research suggests that margins may well have taken a bashing – and that a lot of trade is effectively pulled being forward from December.

Over 38% of men were simply waiting for a big-ticket discount

This could have a big impact on the final few weeks to Christmas making them even more challenging than in previous years, however, most households expect the number of doorstep deliveries (excluding groceries) to be above 4 per week between now and the end of the year.

Over 28% of UK consumers feel scared about being able to afford this Christmas.

Finally, and maybe more worrying, is the emerging feeling of being scared about the affordability of Christmas. Whilst January credit card bills are a little way off, we were concerned to see that so many people are really worried.

The 6 Things you want to know about Black Friday:

1. Over 35% of households didn’t buy anything on Black Friday and nearly half think Black Friday is no longer important to them. Of those who think it is still important, more than half think it’s becoming much less important than previously. 
2. Over 50% of people did all their research online – and over 60% of their eventual purchases were made online. Those who exclusively shopped only in store reached only 16%
3. A mere 6.5% of shoppers did their shopping on social media (Insta/TikTok) but for the under 35 age group this number rose to 10% indicating a generational preference. However, the 18–35-year-old group are the most enthusiastic about the event
4. Female shoppers sited Children and Christmas Gifting as the key drivers for shopping on Black Friday. We found men to be much more likely to buy single large ticket items for themselves.
5. The average household expects to receive about four non-grocery deliveries per week between now and Christmas. The youngest age groups expect slightly fewer than their older counterparts
6. Over 65% of shoppers expected to return none of their purchases.

About Prospero Commerce:

At Prospero Commerce, we take a holistic view of your digital challenges. We are able to rapidly re-define what your business needs for an increasingly digital-first world. We analyse at speed all aspects of your business to generate performance improvements that can be realised quickly. If you need an independent /external viewpoint – give us a call.

If you’d like to find out more about our findings see our website at www.prosperocommerce.com/blog alternatively, if you'd like to discuss your digital commerce challenges, please drop us a line at hello@prosperocommerce.com