UK Retailers See ‘Bad Start to the Festive Season’

British retail sales weakened in November, a trend driven by the timing of Black Friday.

Sales volumes fell by 3.3% last month, the lowest reading since April, and coming on the heels of a slight uptick of 0.6% in October, the British Retail Consortium said in a Tuesday (Dec. 3) news release.

The downturn was due in part to the fact that Black Friday sales were not included in the figures, but will instead be part of December’s sales report.

“While it was undoubtedly a bad start to the festive season, the poor spending figures were primarily down to the movement of Black Friday into the December figures this year,” Helen Dickinson, the consortium’s chief executive, said in the release. “Even so, low consumer confidence and rising energy bills have clearly dented non-food spending.”

Apparel sales were especially weak, Dickinson added, as consumers held off on purchasing new winter clothing, while the arrival of cold and flu season helped buoy health spending.

Linda Ellett, U.K. head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure at KPMG, added that retailers are hoping consumers were being cautious and waiting for Black Friday sales to begin spending.

“If not, then we may see some retailers launching Christmas sales early,” said Ellet.

Meanwhile, Black Friday spending in the U.S. approached $11 billion this year, driven mostly by eCommerce purchases. Data from Adobe Analytics shows this figure is 10% higher than last year’s total, and double the amount of spending from 2017.

“Crossing the $10 billion mark is a big eCommerce milestone for Black Friday, for a day that in the past was more anchored towards in-store shopping,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst with Adobe Digital Insights.

In addition, new PYMNTS Intelligence research also showed eCommerce channels surpassing others, with only 28% of Black Friday shoppers doing their buying entirely in store.

“That means 72% of shoppers made at least some purchases online. In-store Black Friday shopping, while still significant, primarily supplements online efforts,” that report said. “Although 56% of consumers still visit physical stores, that figure represents a slight decline from 57% last year and a greater overall decline from 62% in 2022.”

The research also showed that consumers had allocated a little more than a quarter of their holiday budgets to Black Friday, and spent an added 17% on Black Friday deals before the day itself. In all, shoppers allocated 42% of their holiday spending budgets to purchases before the event, highlighting a shift toward early shopping.