Only 12% of UK shoppers will brave the high street this Black Friday

Only 12% of shoppers will head in-store this Black Friday to grab pre-Christmas discount deals, according to new research from digital commerce platform provider Episerver.

The Episerver research, which surveyed over 1,000 UK consumers, found that while nine out of 10 shoppers will avoid the high street, around a third (32%) plan to stay at home and hunt for deals online.

Commenting on the findings, James Norwood, CMO at Episerver, said “In previous years Black Friday has proved to be one of the busiest days of the year for high street retailers, but our research suggests that shoppers are increasingly avoiding the rush and instead choosing to buy online. I have no doubt that Black Friday will again break records, but – as with Cyber Monday - much more of it will be attributable to online purchases.

There is a growing ease with which consumers can shop online, with increasingly advanced product search engines, one-click ordering and one-hour delivery services driving the appeal of digital over the high street.

“The high street can’t differentiate its offering through deals alone. Instead, retailers must embrace an increasingly omnichannel approach with digital commerce, using services such as click-and-collect to ensure that shoppers can benefit from both the physical experience of the high street and the convenience of shopping online.”

To find out more about Episerver’s consumer research projects, visit http://www.episerver.com/

ENDS

For media information, please contact: 


Alex Warren / Louise Andrews

Wildfire PR 

episerver@wildfirepr.com

020 8408 8000 

Methodology

Episerver conducted a survey of 1,009 UK consumers using the Google Surveys platform. The research was carried out on November 8^th 2017 and was completed on November 10^th 2017.