Scottish retailers are celebrating a significant boost in Black Friday sales, attributed to the event’s closer proximity to Christmas this year.
The surge in consumer activity has provided a much-needed lift to the retail sector, with UK-wide retail footfall increasing by 4.8% on Black Friday and an impressive 10.6% on Cyber Monday.
The Scottish Retail Consortium has published data on shopping patterns on the Black Friday week in 2024 (Sunday to Saturday sales figures) compared to the equivalent the previous year.
Data included year-on-year footfall for Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, from November 29 to December 2, and the boost was credited with closer proximity to Christmas and also to due to payday falling later in the month.
Research found that with online shopping, sales of non-food items in Scotland increased by 10.7%, while without online, it was a 7.55% increase year-on-year.
This upturn comes as a welcome relief for retailers who had been grappling with challenging market conditions earlier in the month.
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said:
“Scotland’s shoppers took advantage of promotions and offers both in person and online as the Black Friday weekend finally kicked off Christmas trading.
“Retail parks and shopping centres saw the biggest surge of customers over the Black Friday weekend, with overall footfall rising 4.8% on Black Friday week as compared to the previous year.
“The increased traffic helped retailers to a much-needed Black Friday boost, with sales up 10.7% for non-food for the week, helped by its closer proximity to Christmas this year.”
“Black Friday remains an omnichannel event, but online growth still showed the biggest gains in the final week, with computing, fashion, and beauty among the most popular categories.
“After this strong start retailers will be hoping customers continue to come out to the shops over the coming weeks to make this a Christmas to remember after a disappointing year for retail trading.”
Linda Ellett, UK Head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure at KPMG, noted:
“Retailers will be relieved that consumers were holding back their November buying for Black Friday week promotions, rectifying the disappointing retail sales levels seen during the rest of the month.”
The success of this year’s Black Friday sales in Scotland highlights the event’s growing importance in the retail calendar. As the festive season approaches, Scottish retailers are now looking ahead to capitalise on this positive trend, with many planning targeted promotions to maintain consumer interest in the run-up to Christmas and Boxing Day sales.
