Black Friday to be outclassed by Manic Monday

Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 10:12 by Mike Price

Although online retailer Amazon has chosen to make November 26th a key day for online shopping in the UK this year, it looks like Black Friday is going to be dwarfed by the surge in sales which analysts expect to see on November 29th, otherwise known as Manic Monday.

On this day consumers are expected to fork out over half a billion pounds, while carrying out safe shopping online, which equates to roughly £22 million every 60 minutes. This will make Manic Monday the busiest day of the year for e-commerce firms by a significant margin.

Compared to last year's sales figures for this day, there will be an increase of more than a third according to a study carried out by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). It integrated figures from 50 of the UK's largest retailers in order to create predictions for what looks set to be a windfall year.

While those who enjoy safe shopping online will flock to e-commerce sites at the end of November, the high street rush will not peak until December 18th, when ten million consumers will flood the shops, spending close to £1 million a minute in peak periods.

The total consumer expenditure for Christmas 2010 is calculated to reach £68.7 billion, a 1.3 per cent rise compared to 2009. £11.5 billion of this total will be spent online, which is up by £2.6 billion compared to last year and proves how much more important e-commerce is during modern festive periods.

Shoppers are stocking up on food and booze early this year, according to payment card firm Visa, which noted a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of total sales between last week and the week before, with a significant rise in the number of people buying tasty treats and booze to stay merry this winter.