Diane Wehrle, Beauclair’s Brand Ambassador, reviews the evidence on the performance of towns and cities on Black Friday 2024
Sales in towns and cities on Black Friday this year were +14.5% higher than on Black Friday 2023 (compared with the +5.5% increase ALL non-food retail sales published by the BRC) and +50.9% higher than on the Friday in the previous week.
All of the evidence points to a successful Black Friday this year with increases across retail as a whole in footfall and sales compared to Black Friday last year. However, until now the missing piece of the puzzle has been evidence of the extent to which towns and cities were successful in capturing spend on what is now acknowledged as a key trading day in the retail calendar.
Beauclair’s data is key to this, and reveals that towns and city centres performed exceptionally well, outperforming retail as a whole. Sales in towns and cities on Black Friday this year were +14.5% higher than on Black Friday 2023 (compared with the +5.5% increase in ALL non-food retail sales published by the BRC) and +50.9% higher than on the Friday in the previous week.
At least part of this success will have been a consequence of Black Friday occurring a week later this year than in 2023, and so landing on payday for many, delivering much needed funds for consumers to capitalise on available discounts. Indeed, the data reveals that all of the key metrics improved from last year; the number of transactions (+7.9%), the number of customers purchasing (+5.6%) and the average transaction value (+8.4%).
Furthermore, the performance of towns and cities strengthened from day to day during Black Friday week, with rises from the week before that got larger as the week progressed; from +12.7% on Monday to a peak of +50.9% on Friday. It appeared that shoppers made a weekend of Black Friday; Saturday performed virtually as well as Black Friday itself, with sales +46.2% higher than on the previous Saturday. Even on Sunday – with a shorter trading day – sales were +11.6% up on the Sunday before.
On an annual basis, every day during the entire week of Black Friday saw uplifts in sales from 2023, with double digit increases on five of the seven days.
Not only were overall sales on Black Friday strong, but there were double digit increases from Black Friday 2023 in all of the five sectors that account for 85% of total town and city centre sales, and double digit rises from the week before for four of the five sectors. Indeed, there were staggering increases in sales of Fashion and Health and Beauty of more than +60% on Black Friday from the prior Friday 22nd November.
These results not only demonstrate that Black Friday is important to consumers but, as importantly, consumers gravitate towards towns and cities to spend. So for towns and cities, it demonstrates that rather than being ignored or endured, Black Friday should be celebrated.
| Black Friday 2024 (29th November) – % change in sales | ||
| Year on Year (2024 vs 2023)* | Week on Week | |
| £ Sales | 14.5% | 50.9% |
| Number of Transactions | 7.9% | 25.7% |
| Number of Customers | 5.6% | 22.9% |
| Average Transaction Value | 8.4% | 22.8% |
| Average Revenue per Customer | 6.1% | 20.0% |
*Black Friday 2024 (29th November) vs Black Friday 2023 (24th November)
| Year on year % change in sales by day* | |
| Mon 25/11/2024 | 12.6% |
| Tue 26/11/2024 | 28.7% |
| Wed 27/11/2024 | 1.5% |
| Thu 28/11/2024 | 12.0% |
| Fri 29/11/2024 | 14.5% |
| Sat 30/11/2024 | 13.7% |
| Sun 01/12/2024 | 0.3% |
*wc 25th November 2024 vs wc 20th November 2023
| Week on week % change in sales by day | |
| Mon 25/11/2024 | 12.7% |
| Tue 26/11/2024 | 33.2% |
| Wed 27/11/2024 | 22.5% |
| Thu 28/11/2024 | 28.0% |
| Fri 29/11/2024 | 50.9% |
| Sat 30/11/2024 | 46.2% |
| Sun 01/12/2024 | 11.6% |
| % change in sales on Black Friday – by sector | ||
| Year on Year | Week on Week | |
| Fashion | 13.1% | 67.3% |
| Food & Drink | 19.7% | 26.6% |
| General Retail | 15.8% | 41.8% |
| Grocery | 15.3% | 7.4% |
| Health & Beauty | 15.8% | 62.4% |
Notes
Evidence of spending in UK towns and cities is provided by Beauclair which specialises in delivering big data for the benefit of local communities, creating positive social impact. Domestic spending data is obtained from debit card transactions from UK bank accounts. www.beauclairdata.co.uk
Diane Wehrle is Beauclair’s Brand Ambassador, delivering monthly insights on spending in UK towns and cities. Diane has over three decades of experience supporting high streets and retail destinations in understanding their performance, and focuses on transforming data into relevant and actionable insights to drive destination and business performance. Diane is regarded as one of the leading experts high streets and retail destinations and is a regular commentator on the performance of high streets and retail in the media. www.rendleintelligenceandinsights.com