Biggest shopping day of the year unfolds as online transactions overtake 2014

23:03

The day's events

Today's shopping event is thought to be the UK's biggest yet, with predictions that as much as £2bn was spent by shoppers online and in store. It's not over yet, with many predicting bargain hunters will enjoy unprecedented discounts for the rest of the Christmas period as the pre-holiday sales become a month-long phenomenon.

Black Friday took the UK by force last year with scenes of chaos across the country, as shoppers fought over heavily discounted televisions and other electrical goods.

But this year, the predicted chaos failed to materialise as savvy shoppers kept their distance, with many opting to buy online from the comfort of their homes and offices instead.

This brought its own problems as several websites failing to cope with demand, with John Lewis, Argos, Boots, Tesco and Game all crashing or suffering slow loading pages before the afternoon was out.

Shops including Argos, Currys and Amazon all ran a series of promotions in the days preceding Black Friday and many sales will continue throughout this weekend to Cyber Monday and beyond.

Amazon said that at 9.10pm, Black Friday 2015 became its biggest sales day ever in the UK with more than six million items ordered.

PCA Predict, which tracks online sales, said that there had still been a strong sales day yesterday with a 62 per cent increase in activity between midnight and 7am compared to 2014.

Currys PC World reported eight sales per second after launching their deals at 6am and said it was selling 30 televisions every minute online.

In comparison, footfall in stores between 8am and midday fell by 6.5 per cent compared to last year, the retail intelligence unit Springboard said.

Click here for a guide to Black Friday deals.

18:15

Black Friday triggers nasty reviews

Trustpilot, has found that Black Friday spikes a rise in negative reviews, because of the strain the event puts on retailers.

James Westlake, from Trustpilot, said: “After a day like Black Friday, shoppers often share their experiences online, both good and bad. Last Black Friday, we saw a 13% increase in reviews left on Trustpilot, and an 11% increase in negative reviews.

“While our data shows that Black Friday places a great strain on businesses, since consumers expect the same high level of customer service no matter what day of the year it is, it also shows that they recover quickly. Over the weekend immediately following Black Friday last year, just 8% of the reviews created were negative compared to an overwhelming 88% positive reviews. It’s clear that the businesses who do best on Black Friday are the ones who prioritise, listen and engage with their customers to build long term, trusting relationships.”

17:40

Retailers suffering outages

As many as 25pc of retailers are suffering outages online, including John Lewis, whose website went down around 15:20.

Darryl Adie, managing director at Ampersand, said: “The Black Friday in-store experience may have been a little muted compared to last year, however, online, retailers have still felt the pressure. Several leading brands such as John Lewis, River Island, Argos, Boots and Game experienced service disruption due to the Black Friday rush suggesting that consumers have been clamouring for deals online.

“It is likely that we are seeing consumers move away from the potential drama of shopping for items in-store and instead choosing to browse and purchase from the comfort of their own homes or offices. With many retailers running Black Friday sales also offering same day delivery in major towns and free standard delivery, shoppers needn’t brave the bleak weather.

“Most retailers seem to have prepared for this year’s event, according to our analysis, 25% of retailers suffered outages compared to over 50% this time last year.

“It’s not just desktop, mobile traffic has grown significantly this year. With the launch of new and larger devices, consumers are able to shop on their smartphones more comfortably. Brands fully optimised for mobile, such as House of Fraser, John Lewis, Topshop, BHS and Go Outdoors, are likely to have had strong conversion rates.”

John Lewis apologised to customers. A spokesman said: "There are record levels of demand for our website today and for some people it is taking longer than normal to shop on johnlewis.com. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused."

17:00

After work bargain hunters to increase crowds of shoppers

The UK's largest owner and manager of shopping centres has said it will hit 1m visitors by the end of the day. Gordon McKinnon, operations director at intu, the UK’s largest owner and manager of shopping centres, said: “This morning we saw a cautious start to Black Friday compared to last year, with moderate queues and a more measured flow of shoppers into our centres. It’s clear that Black Friday this year is a very different and more relaxed experience in the UK, with retailers more prepared, discounts spread throughout the week and shoppers using online channels more - our own online shopping channel (intu.co.uk) has experienced a double digit rise in traffic so far.

“We’re expecting the day to get busier and hit a peak this evening when those finishing work may also choose to join the hunt for bargains. Footfall across intu centres is consistent with last year’s figures, and we fully expect to break the 1 million visitor mark by the end of today’s trading. Whatever form it takes, Black Friday is here to stay; it’s just finding its place in the British retail environment.”

Meanwhile, Hertz are currently seeing a 20pc increase on van rentals contrasted with a regular Friday.

16:20

TVs selling 100 a minute

Currys PC World is reporting over 400,000 visitors per hour to its website this afternoon - 70pc higher than last year.

At its peak, five online orders come through per second for the UK’s largest electrical retailer, with 3.5m visits to the site today alone.

Shoppers started as early as 6am, when the deals first went live online, and Currys PC World has said they are selling 100 large screen TVs per minute.

Apple iPads, with £30 off, Dyson vacuum cleaners and Delonghi Dolce Gusto Hot Drinks Machine are all proving very popular with shoppers too.

The deals will continue throughout the weekend, with up to £600 off large screen 4K TVs, wearable tech at half price and nutri-blenders at their lowest ever price.

Stuart Ramage, E-Commerce director at Currys PC World, said: “In the last few hours of trading we’ve seen a 36pc increase in online orders compared to Black Friday 2014. Our reservations for Reserve and Collect are up 18% on last year so as the day progresses, we expect customers to head in-store to collect their deals.”

15:45

Buy pies, help the homeless

Pieminister are using the event for philanthropic reasons with a free pie pop-up shop in Bristol. They’re calling it 'Black Pieday' and encouraging people to spend their money on donations for Shelter by giving away the pies for free but giving any donations for them to the housing and homelessness charity.

14:30

Online sales up

While there may be fewer shoppers on the high street, online transactions are up on last year, according to PCA Predict. Just a few days ago, research by Paypal revealed that several overseas consumers wait for shopping promotion events such as Black Friday to purchase goods, and with the UK now the third largest global exporter online, it's hardly surprising.

14:08

Fewer shoppers than least year?

So far, Black Friday seems to have attracted fewer shoppers onto the street following last year's chaos.

13:50

Rum punch and curried goat, anyone?

Small businesses have been taking advantage of the crowds of bargain hunters too. One of the more surprising Black Friday promotions on offer - curried goat and rum punch.

13:35

Footfall up in the West End and Westfield

Despite stories and pictures trickling in of empty stores, the West End is reportedly seeing 10pc more footfall than it did on Black Friday last year.

"We’ve seen a tremendous start to the day in London’s West End this Black Friday - in the first four hours of trading we have seen a 10% uplift in footfall compared to Black Friday last year," said Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West End Company.

"I have seen people bringing suitcases with them in order to carry their purchases home – and with retailers offering discounts of up to 50pc off, it is no surprise that a predicted £100m will be taken in West End tills today and a total of £200m from Friday- Sunday.

"In light of the footfall figures we have seen so far, we look set to be on course for the busiest trading day in London’s West End so far this year."

Myf Ryan, Westfield director of marketing, had similar things to say.

"Last year, over 800,000 shoppers came to our centres across the three days. This was an increase of 12pc compared with the previous year, demonstrating the growing popularity of this weekend.

"We saw nearly 300,000 people pass through our doors and we expect similar record numbers of visitors this year."

13:25

Selfridges sales in 1970

"It was almost like a military offensive at this store on London's Oxford Street... the smart shoppers knew exactly where they were headed," this video of a post-Christmas sale at Selfridges, 45 years ago, explais.

"Pushing and shoving is kept to a minimum at places where the bargains are brittle."

13:15

Americans love that Brits are doing Black Friday

The New York Times ran a story on page 6 with the headline 'Britain Embraces Black Friday, American Style'.

"The British don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, of course, but they have enthusiastically embraced another great American holiday tradition: Black Friday. A little too enthusiastically, it seems. Now, some retailers are even trying to dial back some of the frenzy they unleashed just a few years after introducing the whole idea," writes Dan Bilefsky.

"That is because, for a nation that prides itself on its decorous behavior, last year was ugly. Or, what in America is called a typical Black Friday."

However, even Black Friday in the US is looking pretty tame this year.

13:00

... Where did all the people go?

Harry Wallop explains why Black Friday seems to be much quieter than last year.

12:50

The happiest Black Friday shopper

Howard is over the moon after buying a half-price television for his girlfriend. Listen to this and we dare you not to smile.

12:35

The end of the world as we know it

12:30

A peek inside an Amazon warehouse

Amazon's busiest time of year is Black Friday weekend when its warehouses and staff are working at full pelt.

Here's an insider's view.

11:45

As black as Snape

Somewhat aptly, an argument about Snape, the divisive black-clad 'Harry Potter' character, has broken out on Twitter.

J.K. Rowling stepped in to explain why Harry chose to name his son after Hogwarts professor Severus Snape.

A metaphor for Black Friday mayhem? We'll never know.

11:25

Drones and hoverboards galore

LaptopsDirect.co.uk said it has sold over 7,000 drones, 3,000 levitating speakers and more than 1,000 hoverboards in the first four hours of its deals going live.

"This Christmas we’re expecting skies to be full of drones instead of kites, streets to be full of hoverboards instead of bikes and Christmas afternoons huddled around a levitating speaker," said managing director Nick Glynne.

11:15

More like Wack Friday

10:50

Black Friday forever and ever

"It's unlikely that we will see the same chaotic scenes in the UK on Black Friday as we saw last year," says Jon Copestake, retail analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Stores were caught unaware last year and are likely to have made much better preparations this year. Additionally, shoppers may also be wary after last year’s excesses and many are becoming more inured to holiday season sales."

Mr Copestake added that stores are also spreading out sales, rather than running one-day flash promotions.

"Over the course of the weekend, it is still likely that we'll see significant sales, cementing it as a key shopping date. But, rather than operating as a specific sales day, Black Friday will be spread out over a number of days and will signal the start of a longer shopping period that leads right through to the January sales."

10:30

Cheeky Black Friday

10:20

Spare a thought for the retail staff

May the odds be ever in your favour.

10:00

Eight sales per second at Currys PC World

Currys PC World is also reporting a bumper morning, making eight sales per second and selling 30 television sets every minute online.

The retailer said it has seen increases of 1100pc in hourly unique visitors and 2900pc on orders compared to the same time last week. Web sessions – which is each time a user re-enters the website – are 60pc higher than they were last Black Friday.

Yesterday's web traffic was almost as high as last year's Boxing Day as consumers flocked to the website in anticipation of Black Friday deals.

"Everyone’s in good spirits and things are running smoothly," said Stuart Ramage, e-commerce director at Currys PC World.

09:55

Spotted: celeb sales assistant

Sir Charles Dunstone, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse and chairman of the merged company Dixons Carphone, is in uniform and on the shop floor at a Currys PC World store in Bury St Edmunds.

09:50

A Very strong start

Despite the seemingly slow start to the day, Very.co.uk says it is on track to have its biggest day ever.

The online retailer said it has seen more than half a million users on its website so far, with 40,000 visitors at any given time between 7am and 8am after the hourly deals went live.

The most popular categories for deals are beauty and electrical products, with curlers and games consoles being the biggest selling items so far.

Very.co.uk reported that 80pc of its traffic has come from mobile and tablet devices.

09:20

"By all means grab a bargain, just don't grab each other."

That's what Police Scotland said in a warning to Black Friday shoppers, as reported by the BBC.

08:52

Asda cuts fuel to 99.7p but it's nothing to do with Black Friday, ok?

Asda has cut the price of a litre of unleaded petrol by 4p to 99.7p, taking the price of its fuel under the £1 for the first time since 2009.

A litre of diesel, meanwhile, will cost 103.7p from Friday November 27 until Monday November 30, before reverting to its former price of 106.7p.

The "exclusive three-day price drop" happens to coincide with the weekend of Black Friday, the sales phenomenon that Asda loudly said it would not participate in this year.

Here's a reminder of what happened at Asda on Black Friday last year.

08:37

We want pumpkin pie

Guys, we've done this all wrong.

08:20

Never a dull moment

Shoppers who got to Cardiff's Western Avenue Tesco store early included one dressed as a chicken, and another who left disappointed after being told she could not purchase the basic items – a cucumber and a loaf of bread – she had turned up to buy.

One man said his wife told him not to come back without new TV with him, the Press Association reported, while three students told how they planned to carry their newly bought TV on the 30-minute journey home.

08:05

Sugar v Morgan, Black Friday edition

What's a Friday morning without a little development in the ongoing Twitter spat between Lord Sugar and Piers Morgan?

07:45

Any Black Friday deals on tuition fees?

07:30

Kentucky brawl

Despite reports of a calmer approach to Black Friday this year, two shoppers in Kentucky got caught up in a scuffle last night.

Two men wrestled each other to the ground in a busy food court at the Mall St Matthews in Louisville, before a police officer separated them.

The fracas knocked a woman to the floor as shoppers at the small gawked at the sight of two unidentified men slapping, punching and tearing at each other’s shirts, the New York Daily News reported. As one participated was ushered away by his friends, he made sure to pick up theshopping bag he had dropped on the floor.

07:20

Rules are rules

06:45

Americans have been at this for hours already

Many major stores in the US opened on Thursday afternoon to allow turkey-stuffed American shoppers to burn off their Thanksgiving dinners with a spot of power shopping.

Best Buy opened at 5pm, while Wal-Mart, Target and Macy's opened an hour later.

06:25

The madness is happening on Twitter

Shops are calm, queues are empty, Black Friday is under control. Except on Twitter.

06:10

Line up, single file

Although queues are forming outside some stores, the crowds seems to be significantly quieter than last year.

In 2014, police were called to eight Tesco branches in Manchester, with at least one store closing after 30 minutes due to overcrowding.

05:40

Looks like it will be fun in Manchester

One Manchester shopper is determined to be well prepared

04:38

Shoppers are bracing themselves for the mayhem which awaits

03:33

For those shopping in the US - where fights are most likely to take place

This tweet has useful information for anyone going shopping in the US. It might be something to bear in mind.

02:45

US stores start Black Friday early but report muted start

In America major stores have been offering discounts on Thanksgiving, a day ahead of Black Friday. In New York City there was a queue of around 200 people at Toys R Us in Times Square. But Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, said that crowds were “good but not great” according to information coming in from 18 different US locations

01:30

Black Friday travel deals

City breaks

Barcelona - £79

Two nights at the four-star Hotel Barcelona Universal, set in the city’s theatre district near Las Ramblas, cost from £79 per person. Includes return flight from London Stansted departing on January 17. See lastminute.com for more information and other offers. The sale ends at 10am on December 1.

London shopping stays - £10

The five-star Lancaster London hotel, a short walk from Oxford Street, and the K West Hotel & Spa hotel, steps from the Westfield Shopping Centre, are offering a 50 per cent discount on room prices from 9am on November 27 for 24 hours. See k-west.co.uk or lancasterlondon.com for details.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of London’s Courthouse Hotel, the historic former building of the Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court is offering one-night stays from £10 for bookings made between 10.10am and 10.10pm on November 27. Valid for stays between December 20-26. Those who missed the £10 price period can access a 10 per cent discount on room rates by using the promotional code 10YEARS for bookings made between November 27 2015 and January 2 2016. See courthouse-hotel.com for details.

Read the full article for more great deals

Where can the best deals be found?

Right here.

What should we expect from Black Friday?

Consumers are expected to spend £1.07bn online during the 24 hours of Black Friday, marking a 32pc increase on last year's £810m.

It would be the first time that online retail sales in the UK surpass £1bn in one day.

The Centre for Retail Research expects total Black Friday sales, including in-store transactions, to climb to £1.39bn and shopping over the entire weekend to near £3.5bn.

While Asda has washed its hands of the whole affair, after hosting some of the messiest scenes from last year in its aisles, Tesco is planning on participating in a big way again, closing its Extra stores from midnight to 5am in a bid to stem some of the madness it hosted last year.