Was Black Friday a BOOM or a BUST for your Business?

As anyone who runs a retail business will be well aware, the weeks leading up to Christmas are a time when consumer spending is at its highest: indeed, many businesses make a significant proportion of their yearly profit in December alone. Official figures aren't yet in for how much was spent across the UK on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year but all the indications suggest that it has smashed all previous records.

Barclaycard was the first to share the available information and, as the company is responsible for processing around £1 of every £3 spent in the UK, their figures are clearly worth listening too and accurately represent the wider spending trends. A spokesperson for Barclaycard said that, compared with last year, Black Friday 2019 was 'outstanding'.

More specifically, Barclaycard's spokesperson said that transaction value was up 16.5% compared to last year, with the volume of the transactions themselves up by 7.2%. Cyber Monday was also said to have been 'off to a strong start', with transaction volume increasing by almost 7% on last year. “Once again Black Friday has continued to be a fantastic opportunity for retailers and consumers,” the spokesperson concluded.

Since 2011, high-street footfall during December has fallen lower every year. In 2018, footfall was down by 2.6% compared to 2017: early figures suggest that this trend has continued and footfall has contracted by a further 1.5% this year. This constant drop in high-street footfall is clearly due to the growing availability of goods online and better internet technology that makes online shopping a continually-improving experience.

Online shoppers are more demanding and discerning than ever before. If your website doesn't immediately deliver the experience they want, they have got plenty of other options available among your competitors. As the majority of online shoppers now use mobile devices to access content, your business HAS to have a modern, reliable, dynamic and professional mobile presence.

Brick Technology offers you, and thus your customers, the full package when it comes to designing, building and maintaining responsive, mobile-friendly websites and mobile applications. Call us today and make sure you get your slice of the billions of pounds spent online during December next year.