A whopping £1.4bn was spent on online sales in the UK on Black Friday – up some 11.7% on last year, according to online retailer’s trade body IMRG.
But on High Streets, shopping centres and retail parks it was a different story with footfall figures down 3.6%, analysis firm Springboard said.
Online’s shopping growth is already an established trend, but IMRG says it works particularly well for sales.
Yet in the battle of clicks versus bricks it isn’t just Black Friday that counts.
The sales bonanza that kicks off the day after Thanksgiving is now a four-day long event culminating in so-called Cyber Monday.
According to online data specialist PCA Predict, UK online sales were up 3% between 11am and 5pm this Cyber Monday compared to last year.
It said the peak minute for purchasing goods was towards the end of the working day at 4:38pm.
The other impact on shopper numbers, both online and in the shops, is that many shops are now offering deals long ahead of Black Friday.
As consumer Group Which? pointed out last week many of last year’s so-called Black Friday deals were cheaper or available at the same price at other times of year.