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Shops in Oxford Street on Black Friday (Picture: Rex)

Empty streets on Black Friday as customers choose to shop online instead

Black Friday got off to a very, very quiet start this morning.

It seems the days of people fighting over a reduced price TV in a car park for the annual sales event are over.

Busy shopping areas such as London’s Oxford St were basically empty before stores opened up.

There was one solitary queue outside JD Sports, but that was about it.

It was similarly silent in other areas of the country, with Twitter user David Pollitt posting a picture of himself standing alone in a Tesco queue in Accrington, Lancashire.

He wrote: ‘3:50 am at tesco Accrington and I’m the only 1 here waiting for it to open at 5 am.

‘Things you do for a good deal for the kids Christmas presents #BlackFriday #minus1 #Christmas2019.’

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There was no queue outside Topshop on Oxford Street (Picture: Rex)
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There was no excitement outside this store (Picture: Rex)
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It was a quiet start this morning (Picture: Rex)

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Black Friday, which is an import from the US, hasn’t really taken off inside stores in the UK.

A lot of this is due to the fact people prefer to stay at home and order deals from the internet, according to PwC.

A survey from PwC revealed 77% of UK customers would be shopping online for bargains.

A study from Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) also showed only 16% of the UK public believed Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals were genuinely some of the best prices they’d see all year.

CIM CEO Chris Daly said: ‘Clearly, authenticity about the deals on offer is impacting consumer confidence, and this is not good news for brands interested in winning the long-term loyalty of their customers.

‘Consumers are relying on discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop more smartly in the run up to Christmas, but they will not be taken advantage of.’

UK retailers were still expected to make recoup a record £2.5billion in sales this year so it’s not all bad news.

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There was a single queue outside JD Sports on Oxford Street (Picture: Rex)
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No-one was interested in queuing up outside Gap (Picture: Rex)
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Nothing happening at Next (Picture: Rex)
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People prefer to shop on the internet on Black Friday (Picture: Rex)

The Black Friday sales aren’t going as well in the US as in previous years after they kicked off on Thanks Giving yesterday.

With six fewer holiday shopping season days than last year, it will be the shortest season since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the fourth Thursday in November – the latest possible date it could be.

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That means customers will have less time to shop and retailers will have less time to woo them.

Adobe Analytics predicts a loss of $1 billion (£775m) in online revenue from a shortened season.

Still, it expects online sales will reach $143.7 billion (£111b), up 14.1% from last year’s holiday season

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