Nationwide and Barclaycard say Black Friday spending off to steady start
Nationwide and Barclaycard have said Black Friday sales are up, as Brits looks to cash in with bargains for Christmas during the cost of living crisis.
Early days showed there had been 1.37m transactions from Nationwide members, up 17 per cent from a regular Friday.
The building society said the number of purchases were up 33 per cent on the same day in 2020 which was hit by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Barclaycard Payments, which processes a third of all cash spent in Britain, said the volume of transactions remained “consistent” compared to last year.
Ahead of a further update from both Nationwide and Barclaycard at midday, Mark Nalder, director of payment strategy at Nationwide Building Society said: “Early indications are that this Black Friday will be the busiest shopping day of the year. Despite cost of living pressures, transactions are already up 7 per cent on last year.”
” The lure of a Black Friday bargain ahead of Christmas is clear to see as the number of purchases are currently up 17 per cent on an average Friday.”
Meanwhile the head of Barclaycard Payments, Marc Pettican, said: “Our data shows that Black Friday is off to a steady start this year, despite the challenging economic backdrop. When looking at spending on the morning of Black Friday, so far today, transaction volumes are broadly in line with what we saw this time last year.
“We have also seen an increase in transactions in the week leading up to today, with volumes up 3.46 per cent week-on-week* compared to the lead up to Black Friday last year.”
“It’s likely the feel good factor in the run up to the World Cup, with the England and Wales matches on Monday of this week, has given retail and hospitality a boost. We’re also seeing Black Friday discounts starting earlier each year, so while today remains the main event, many retailers started their deals earlier in the month.”
“It will be interesting to watch what happens as we progress throughout the day, especially as we near England’s second group stage match this evening.”