After a tough October and start to November for UK retailers, the number of transactions made by Nationwide Building Society members was up 12% by 1pm compared with Black Friday last year and was 16% up on 2022.
Mark Nalder from Nationwide, said: "This year's Black Friday is in line with our expectation that this will be the busiest shopping day on record for our customers."
However, the number of visitors to physical shopping destinations was down by 0.5% on last year by 1pm, according to analysts at MRI Software, led by a 2.5% slump on high streets. Shopping centres and retail parks reported modest growth in visitor numbers, while central London was up by 0.5% on last year.
Jenni Matthews, insights director at MRI, said high streets - which are more likely to attract those shopping after work - might have experienced an improvement as the day progressed.
This story is from the November 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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