Six in ten people across Nottinghamshire are expected to spend money on Black Friday when the shopping deal event takes over for another year.
With less than a month to go until Christmas, the date is expected to be the biggest shopping day of 2015 across the city, county, and the rest of the UK.
Last year saw a whopping £810 million spent on Black Friday but the total is expected to be even higher this year with a record-breaking £1.9 billion spent in one day.
According to Nottingham-based company, Retail Assist, only 15 per cent of people will be shopping on the high street and the other 85 per cent will be shopping online.
Reanne Paul, marketing executive at Retail Assist, said: “There’s definitely some nervousness amongst retailers, probably the biggest retailer giant Asda pulled out quite last-minute this year which is a bit of shock for most retailers.
“However other big brand stores like Argos are still going for it, they launch three weeks before Black Friday and then run through to December 1 which makes it a big event.”
Video: Last year saw chaos at Wembley Asda, London, as shoppers fought over discounted products
Asda said it will not take part this year as it believes in offering savings throughout the year, instead of on one day.
The Broadmarsh Argos store has conducted a risk assessment for this year to make sure everything is under control throughout the day.
Everyone is nice and calm, unlike other places on Black Friday
A member of staff at the store, who asked not to be named, said: “It was really busy last year but nothing was damaged in our store because the stock is in the back everyone is nice and calm, unlike other places on Black Friday.
“This year we are expecting a lot of shoppers to take advantage of the deals we have in store.”
The biggest US import: Where did Black Friday come from?
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the United States but the UK have also started taking part in the shopping bonanza.
The name ‘Black Friday’ originated in Philadelphia by the police department to describe the huge congestion on the streets, incidents of shoplifting and shoppers fighting each other.
Black Friday and the last Saturday before Christmas is meant to be the UK’s busiest shopping day
Other Nottinghamshire shopping centres are not sure what to expect on the busiest day for retail stores.
Neil Finchim, The Exchange shopping centre manager, said: “It’s very hard to say what we are expecting to be honest, there seems to be a huge range of opinions amongst the retail shops.
“Four of our stores have got Black Friday events but none seem to have the huge splash with outrageous offers which people are going to be queuing up from midnight for.”
Video: We ask Nottingham shoppers what they think of the Black Friday takeover
Dealer makers?: Some of the ways retailers are trying to tempt Nottingham shoppers
- Amazon – All the deals can be viewed on the Amazon deals page or customers who have signed up to the newsletter will get daily lightening deals
- All New Kindle Paperwhite £79.99, Hisense 50-Inch 4K Smart Ultra TV £399.99, Bulova Sports Men’s Quartz Watch £67.99
- Argos – Argos has been running Red, White and Blue Fridays leading up to Black Friday as part of its Christmas campaign
- Hitachi 40 inch full HD led TV £229.99, Dyson DC50 Multifloor Eco Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner £229.99, White Apple refurbished iPhone 4s £99.95
- Currys PC World – The bigger stores will be opening at 6am which when the online sale begins too but the smaller stores will open at 8am
- Samsung UE48J5200 Smart 48″ led TV £399.00, Indesit IWC71452 eco washing machine £159.00, Nikon D3300 DSLR Camera with Lens Kit & Accessory Bundle £339.00
