Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2014: Could Manic Monday beat both to become the biggest retail day of the year?

With Black Friday bargains from the biggest retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Currrys PC World, UK shoppers are expected to go hell for leather in the lead up to Christmas this year.

 

But two firms are fighting against the consensus that says Black Friday and Cyber Monday will see us splurge the most. 

 

Instead data firm Experian Marketing Services and online retailing trade association IMRG are flagging Manic Monday – December 8 – as the biggest online shopping day here in the UK. 

 

The two companies are predicting 151 million visits to retail sites – up 26 per cent on the same day last year – and a total of £676.5m being spent throughout the day, equivalent to £470,000 per minute. 

 

By comparison, consumers are expected to spend £556m, or £385,000 per minute, on Black Friday and £650m, equivalent to £451,000 per minute, on Cyber Monday. 

 

The forecasts are taken from the combined datasets of Experian's tool Hitwise and the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, using historical data and trends to make estimated predictions for 2014.