A very British Black Friday: Retailers lose out as Black Friday becomes the domain of discounters

Abstract

The current authors studied Black Friday in Britain and learned that the reality is somewhat different from the hype. There will always be a small proportion of shoppers who get a kick out of grabbing a bargain, no matter how hostile the experience, but the majority are sensible human beings who are in control and able to make their own decisions. Moreover, they are happily buying online, at home. While customers snap up a bargain, retailers are losing out—mostly to online discounters such as Amazon. We predict that Black Friday will become the domain of discounters as the rest of the retail community experiments with alternative strategies. We explore some of these alternatives and suggest a brighter future for UK retailers and customers alike.