Black Friday Statistics in the UK in 2022
Black Friday is a recent tradition in the UK, after Amazon started to offer Black Friday deals to British shoppers in 2010.
The tradition of Black Friday shopping dates back to 1960s Philadelphia, when tourists would start their Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, causing a sudden increase of shoppers in the city to give business to the shops. 2022 marks the 12th year of Black Friday shopping in the UK – so how are we preparing for it? How early do shoppers start planning for Black Friday? And how much did the pandemic affect Black Friday over the past two years?
Black Friday Britain: Everything you Need to Know
- UK shoppers start searching for Black Friday deals as early as July!
- Amazon, Halfords, Molton Brown and AO are the UK’s top Black Friday brands
- Covid-19 seems to have had a negative impact on Black Friday’s popularity, with average monthly Google searches for Black Friday-related terms dropping by 39% between 2019 and 2021.
How Early Do Shoppers Start Preparing for Black Friday in the UK?
Black Friday deals are a fantastic way to go Christmas shopping and it’s likely that many people save their Christmas budget for November.
- People in the UK start searching for Black Friday as early as July, 4 months before Black Friday deals begin!
- Black Friday anticipation really starts in August, when monthly searches jumped up from July’s figure of 29,480 to 47,380.
- People in the UK seem to show considerable interest in late Black Friday deals, searching 61,900 times for Black Friday-related queries in December 2021.
Which Brands Are Most Popular Amongst UK Shoppers on Black Friday?
| Rank |
Brand |
Total Google searches made in the UK in November 2021 |
| 1 |
Amazon |
90,500 |
| 2 |
Halfords |
18,100 |
| 3 |
Molton Brown |
18,100 |
| 4 |
AO |
18,100 |
| 5 |
Hotel Chocolat |
14,800 |
| 6 |
Mulberry |
14,800 |
| 7 |
Samsung |
14,800 |
| 8 |
DFS |
9,900 |
| 9 |
Vivienne Westwood |
9,900 |
| 10 |
Smyths Toys |
8,100 |
- Amazon is the most searched-for brand in relation to Black Friday deals, accumulating a total of 90,500 Google searches in November 2021. That’s 5 times higher than its closest competitors.
- Next up are Halfords, Molton Brown and AO, with an average of 18,100 searches being made for each brand alongside the term ‘Black Friday’ in November 2021. That puts bike hardware, fragrances and electronics among the most sought-after Black Friday products online.
- Hotel Chocolat, Mulberry and Samsung seem to be the third most popular Black Friday brands, adding chocolate, fashion and phones to the list of top Black Friday products.
How Did the Pandemic Affect Black Friday?
The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 drove many UK shoppers from the high street to ecommerce shopping due to lockdowns and illnesses. It’s reasonable to assume that the online culture of Black Friday shopping was impacted by this – but how much, and in what way
- Interest in Black Friday seemed to peak in 2019, when people in the UK searched an average of 418,507 times per month.
- During the pandemic of 2020 and 2021 the volume of Google searches for Black Friday reduced significantly compared to previous years, experiencing a drop of 39% between 2019 and 2021.
- The biggest year-by-year decrease was between 2019 and 2020, when Black Friday searches dropped from 418,507 down to 280,045.
Did the Pandemic Have an Impact on Black Friday Spending?
So how much does the UK spend on Black Friday deals every year? And did this change over the pandemic?
- The average Black Friday spend in 2021 was £275, £25.67 less than the average spend in 2020.
- In 2020, the average Black Friday spend nearly reached £300 (£295.67).
- That’s an increase of nearly £50 (£44.47) since 2019, despite interest in Black Friday deals appearing to decrease between 2019 and 2020.
The total amount spent on Black Friday increased from £5.6 billion in 2019 to just under £6 billion in 2020.
- However, this figure dropped by over a billion between 2020 and 2021, falling from nearly £6 billion down to £4.8 billion.
Black Friday is a great opportunity to stock up on items and Christmas gifts in the run-up to the holiday season, especially on a budget. For more ideas about the types of Christmas gifts to buy on Black Friday, contact LFI Creative for your corporate gifts needs.
