The opportunity for a bargain is just one of the reasons people plan to buy something online this Black Friday, according to research from Royal Mail, with fear of missing out and getting Christmas shopping done early also major factors driving purchases.
Half of those who plan to buy something say it’s because they think Black Friday offers the best discounts of the year, whilst more than a third (37 per cent) say they like to get presents sorted early and another third (36 per cent) say it helps them to spread the cost of buying Christmas presents.
Fear of missing out due to items selling out drives one in five people to make a Black Friday purchase, rising to 30 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds.
Plans to shop online during Black Friday differ hugely across the age groups. Almost two thirds of 18 to 24- year-olds intend to buy something compared with 12 per cent of over 65saccording to the OnePoll survey of 2,000 people.
Younger age groups are also much more likely to rely on Black Friday to sort the bulk of their Christmas shopping, with 56 per cent of 18-to-24 year olds planning to shop during the event hoping to buy all of their gifts, declining to seven per cent of over 65s
The top items people are planning to purchase are clothes (31 per cent), gadgets (26 per cent), children’s toys (23 per cent), shoes or trainers (19 per cent) and cosmetics (19 per cent).
Whilst the cost of living is affecting many people’s plans, with 40 per cent saying they plan to spend less this Black Friday than previous years, another 40 per cent plan to spend about the same and ten per cent say they plan to spend more.
Even if people don’t intend to buy anything during Black Friday, many of people will start buying gifts during the build-up to the event. Almost one in three (29 per cent) of people surveyed said they start their Christmas shopping in November, compared with 17 per cent in the first half of December, five per cent in the second half of December and 16 per cent in October.
Grant McPherson, chief operating officer Royal Mail, said: “Throughout November and December we deliver around twice as many parcels as other months, and the week around Black Friday is one of the busiest as people taking advantage of the event add to an already busy Christmas shopping period. Whether people are buying gifts for loved ones or treating themselves, we know how important it is that they get their purchases on time. That’s why we are pulling out all of the stops this festive period, hiring thousands of additional people and setting up five temporary parcel sorting centres to ensure we deliver Christmas for our customers.”
