NZPost offering YouShop discount for Black Friday

Last year, giant retailer John Lewis said Black Friday resulted in the busiest sales week in its 150-year history.

With total holiday spending projected to reach 0.5 billion this year, personal finance website, WalletHub, conducted an in-depth analysis to uncover the best and worst retailers for Black Friday deals.

A report from LCP Consulting found that a third of major retailers see Black Friday as unprofitable and unsustainable, while research from Gordons law firm said that 86pc of retailers questioned would reduce or end their participation in the pre-Christmas promotion this year.

New Zealand Post’s YouShop service, which gives Kiwis a postal address in the US, UK or China, and then delivers them to your home, has also got into the Black Friday spirit, by offering a 10 per cent discount for users of its service.

Executive GM – International and Global Logistic Dr Sohail Choudhry said YouShop is becoming increasingly popular with New Zealanders, particularly during key global sales dates, such as Black Friday.

According to a survey by Barclays, some 77 percent of United Kingdom retailers are holding Black Friday promotions.

Shoppers will be going mad for bargains on Friday.

But why is it “black” Friday? Asda said it was dropping Black Friday this year because of “shopper fatigue”.

Sensing a populist cause, some members of Parliament – including Jeremy Corbyn, who is the opposition Labour leader – put forward a nonbinding motion in the House of Commons in January railing against large retailers who chose to adopt “the American retail custom of Black Friday”, saying it was an affront to public order and a drain on police resources.

The £1.07bn expected to be spent on the internet on Black Friday would be a 32% increase on last year’s £810m and the first time online sales will have cleared £1bn in one day, says Experian-IMRG. Or, what in America is called a typical Black Friday.

As stores became increasingly keen to up their Christmas sales, they started to discount before Christmas.

Researcher FootFall reckons Black Friday in-store shopper numbers will be down by up to 4 percent year-on-year, also impacted by some retailers – including Amazon, Argos, Marks & Spencer and Dixons Carphone – elongating Black Friday activity beyond a single day of discounts. But Google searches there about the shopfest are up threefold.