# Britain on track for record Black Friday sales Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-11-26 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: Record Sales Expected Despite Black Friday Supply Chain Meta Description: Britain set for record Black Friday sales despite disruptions, with Barclaycard data showing increased transactions compared to last year. URL: https://financedigest.com/britain-on-track-for-record-black-friday-saleshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2021-11-26t153322z2lynxmpehap0clrtroptp4retail-holidayshopping-britain-1736836851060-compressed.jpg) (Adds dropped word in paragraph 4) By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) – Britain looks to be on track for record sales over the Black Friday discount weekend despite supply chain disruption, with initial data indicating nearly a quarter more shopper transactions versus last year. Barclaycard, which processes nearly 1 pound ($1.33) in every 3 pounds spent on credit and [debit cards](https://www.financedigest.com/visa-has-terminated-global-debit-card-agreements-with-ftx.html "Visa has terminated global debit card agreements with FTX") in the United Kingdom, said the volume of payment transactions as of 1300 GMT was up 4.2% compared to the same period in 2019 and up 23.3% on 2020, when non-essential stores were closed due to a COVID-19 lockdown. So far the data looks extremely promising and we should be set for one of the most successful [Black Friday](https://www.financedigest.com/cost-of-living-crisis-casts-shadow-over-europes-black-friday.html "Cost-of-living crisis casts shadow over Europe’s Black Friday") shopping sprees on record,” said Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments. Analysts at GlobalData for the VoucherCodes Shopping for Christmas report [forecast total sales](https://www.financedigest.com/truck-maker-volvo-posts-record-q1-as-sales-margins-beat-forecasts.html "Truck maker Volvo posts record Q1 as sales, margins beat forecasts") of 9.15 billion pounds over the four day Black Friday to Cyber Monday period – up 15.1% on the 7.95 billion pounds taken in 2020 and up 6.8% on the 8.57 billion pounds taken in 2019. [Black Friday](https://www.financedigest.com/staying-ahead-of-risk-this-black-friday.html "Staying Ahead of Risk This Black Friday"), taking place against a backdrop of shortages of both products and drivers to deliver them, is particularly important for department store group John Lewis, consumer electricals retailers Currys and AO World and general merchandise retailer Argos, which is part of supermarket group Sainsbury’s. While Tesco, [Britain’s biggest retailer](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-retailers-must-leverage-the-appeal-of-brand-britain-to-entice-chinas-growing-population-of-wealthy-consumers.html "UK retailers must leverage the appeal of ‘Brand Britain’ to entice China’s growing population of wealthy consumers"), and Asda are also participating, some major retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Next, shun the event. On Thursday, UK retailers reported the strongest pre-Christmas demand since 2015 but also the biggest price rises since 1990, as [fears of shortages led shoppers](https://www.financedigest.com/london-fears-losing-luxury-shoppers-to-paris-and-milan.html "London fears losing luxury shoppers to Paris and Milan") to buy gifts early, figures from the Confederation of British Industry showed. On Tuesday, AO warned of limited supplies of games consoles, including Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, and [Apple iphones](https://www.financedigest.com/an-apple-a-year-half-of-iphone-users-will-upgrade-to-the-iphone-7.html "AN APPLE A YEAR: HALF OF IPHONE USERS WILL UPGRADE TO THE IPHONE 7"), blaming the global shortage of semiconductor chips. Earlier this month, Sainsbury’s similarly [warned shoppers to expect a shortage](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-covid-crisis-could-deepen-n-korea-food-shortages-amid-drought-warnings.html "Analysis-COVID crisis could deepen N.Korea food shortages amid drought warnings") of electronics products. Currys, however, has said it is well stocked. Delays in international supply chains are being compounded by labour shortages in domestic [transport and warehousing networks](https://www.financedigest.com/strikes-bring-londons-transport-network-to-a-halt.html "Strikes bring London’s transport network to a halt"), with a shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers particularly acute. Amazon’s Black Friday was [disrupted by climate activists targeting 15 depots across Europe and it also faced](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-airports-face-christmas-disruption-as-border-staff-to-strike.html "UK airports face Christmas disruption as border staff to strike") protests by workers and delivery drivers in Germany, France and Italy. In the U.S. stores were less crowded than in [years past as major retailers](https://www.financedigest.com/spains-november-retail-sales-fall-0-6-on-year.html "Spain’s November retail sales fall 0.6% on year") opened their doors early. (The story has been refiled to add dropped word in paragraph 4) (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Susan Fenton and Raissa Kasolowsky) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---