Black Friday: Salford’s battle with the internet

Shops in Salford, along with the rest of the UK, open their doors early tomorrow and close them late for the big Black Friday sales event.

Historically, the event sees shoppers flocking to the the big retailers to bag a deal in time for Christmas. However, of the £2 billion predicted to be spent by UK shoppers, only 8.5 pre cent are planning to spend their money in store.

Salford’s retailers like the Lowry Outlet and Salford Shopping centre are likely to suffer, while online retailers thrive with over half of all shoppers planning to browse deals online.

Lowry Outlet shopper, Connie Welch, 32, said: “If I shop on Black Friday it will definitely be online because it’s easier, it’s more convenient for me.”

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Black Friday used to be a one-day-deal, but stores have began competing with online offers so the sales jumpstart earlier in the week and continue to Cyber Monday.

Nikki Broster, a 34-year-old shopper, said: “I think because the deals have been on all week and I’m out today, it is really unlikely I will go out to purchase anything tomorrow, but I think I will probably have a browse online.”

With the younger generations mindset of impulse-buying, online shopping is their preferred way to shop, with only 13 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds saying they are likely to shop in store.

Shops in Salford have noticed the impact this has had on their sales. Online shopping taking over Black Friday will not make happy reading for managers and sales advisors.

Alex Garbould, 22, at TABlites Vape Shop in the Lowry Outlet, said: “I’m not really expecting a big turn out for Black Friday as I have found we have had a huge increase of 50% in online sales this year.”

Connor, 24, who works at ToyTown, Salford, said: “To be honest, I am not expecting a huge turn out tomorrow as we have had our promotions on all week.

“Online sales have affected in-store sales quite a lot this year, more than anything, people come in and tell us about the online deals first and then see what we have to compare to that.”