Black Friday in the UK

Black Friday is an American tradition. It happens the day after Thanksgiving. Retailers offer huge discounts that kickstart the Christmas shopping season. A few years ago, British retailers decided to join in on the act, a ploy to get us to part with our cash. Experts predict a record-breaking day, with online sales set to break through the 1 billion pound mark for the first time in the UK, a third more than last year. One major credit card company reckons we'll spend 1.9 billion when you include all the physical shops here on the high street. That means 21,990 pounds could be spent every second. Who could forget the mayhem from last year as shoppers literally fought over bargains? Websites crashed, and distribution centres struggled to cope with the tsunami of orders. Whilst it's good for us consumers, there's plenty of evidence that suggests that Black Friday simply drives us to spend earlier, not more, hasting retailers, not helping them.