Black Friday turns grey for high street

Black Friday has been something of a damp squib for the UK's high street shops and shopping centres, though the UK's online retailers have enjoyed a strong sales boost.

Retail analysts Springboard said the number of shoppers popping into bricks-and-mortar stores on Friday dropped 5.4% compared to last year's Black Friday event. Footfall was down 5.6% on Saturday and fell 4.3% on Sunday.

Offering a stark contrast, online transactions surged 46% up to 1600 GMT on Friday.

Compared to the previous Friday, footfall for traditional retailers' high street shops picked up 8.6%, but Saturday was flat and Sunday's growth was up just 2.2%.

The week before the sales' official kick-off, Springboard reported a drop-off in sales, with consumers felt likely to be holding off until the discounts arrived, pushing in-store sales down alongside a decline in overall footfall.

Footfall to bricks and mortar stores was hit by the larger discounts offered online, said Diane Wehrle, insights director of Springboard.

"Throughout the weekend, the drop in footfall was most dramatic in shopping centres; the stronger resilience of high streets and retail parks in comparison is likely to be a function of their wider range of hospitality outlets," said Wehrle.

She noted that discounts were continuing on Cyber Monday, but said that the impetus to make purchases is likely to be be largely over.

Analysts at Peel Hunt noted that Black Friday discounts have been running for well over a week, "allowing retailers to avoid too much of a logistics headache".

Looking at the quoted online players, the analysts pointed out that ASOS arrived only on Black Friday, with a relatively low level of discounts, while discount levels at unquoted e-commerce retailer Missguided were also significantly less than the prior year, that Zalando has reported it strongest Black Friday yet and "no doubt Boohoo group will also have experienced a record year".

"Discounts continue today, with a strong weekend/Monday also likely next week as we move through payday weekend and into what was traditionally the online peak before Black Friday took off."

Shares in retailers were up on Monday, regardless of the data, rising along with other domestically focused sectors, such as banks and housebuilders.