Barclays: Black Friday Transactions Down On 2022

New data from Barclays, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, reveals that the volume of transactions on Black Friday 2023 was slightly lower than Black Friday 2022, as many retailers increasingly spread their deals out across the month of November. 

• Transaction volumes on Black Friday were down 0.6 per cent year-on-year¹ compared to Black Friday 2022, however:
• Transaction volumes were up 2.7 per cent month-on-month² compared to the equivalent Friday in October 

The volume of transactions in the week leading up to Black Friday were higher than the equivalent period last year, as retailers continued to launch sales earlier in the month. New data from Barclays, which sees nearly half of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, shows the number of transactions were:

• Up 1.42 per cent year-on-year compared to the equivalent week last year (Thurs 16^th to Weds 22^nd Nov 2023 vs. Thurs 17^th to Weds 23^rd Nov 2022)
• Up 2.25 per cent month-on-month compared to the equivalent week in October (Thurs 16^th to Weds 22^nd Nov 2023 vs. Thurs 19^th to Weds 25^th Oct 2023)

Marc Pettican, Head of Barclaycard Payments said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen Black Friday sales arrive earlier and earlier, with shoppers spreading their spending over a longer period of time. Although the cost-of-living may be impacting some shoppers' spending on non-essential items, many are still taking the opportunity to bag a Black Friday bargain. No doubt this will be welcome news to retailers who may have anticipated a slower November as shoppers' budgets continue to be squeezed.

“We're now able to look at the full day of Black Friday sales data, and we can see that the total number of transactions has decreased slightly compared to 2022.

“This dip in sales volumes year-on-year is perhaps expected given the impact of the cost-of-living on Brits' discretionary spending and the trend towards launching discounts earlier in November. However, Black Friday was still significantly busier than usual for retailers, with transactions up 2.7 per cent compared to the equivalent Friday in October 2023, demonstrating the continued popularity and importance of this shopping milestone.”  

¹24.11.23 vs 25.11.22

²27.10.23

Source : Barclays

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