Black Friday, on standby in the UK: sales forecast to grow just 2%

Black Friday slows down in the UK. The 2019 discount day will experience its lowest forecast ever in the United Kingdom according to a study by Imrg. The report states that it has forecasted growth of just 2% or 3%. “Given the myriad problems retail is currently experiencing, there seems a very real possibility that sales could well be flat or even negative,” the report explained.

Imrg blames a range of issues for its dismal predictions, including the shopper confidence in the UK being dragged down by the increasing number of retailers falling into administration, as well as drop in sales that haven’t recovered as expected in the second half of the year, excluding the cosmetics business.

Looking ahead of Black Friday, the report also expects December’s sales to underperform, predicting growth of 1% or 2% “which is even lower than it looks at first glance, as this is in comparison to the very weak growth of last year, which was the lowest for the month of December, ever.”

Brexit also plays its part in the consultant’s report, stating that it has been a key weight on sales, marked by uncertainty “tying up investment that might otherwise have been used to improve customer experience”.