77% of adults in the UK are planning to bag a bargain during this year’s Black Friday bonanza, according to new data from money.co.uk. Four in 10 say they will spend £200 – £300 more this year than they did last year on Black Friday, with one in 10 planning to spend £500 more. A further 15% admit they will splash out between £600 – £2,000 on Black Friday, which this year falls on 27 November.
Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, said: “It is encouraging for the economy to see that shoppers are set to spend more than ever this year. Four out of 10 shoppers admit they will spend more this year than in previous years when, famously, desire for Black Friday bargains even resulted in scuffles in some stores.”
The Biggest Black Friday Purchases of 2020
Salman Haqqi added: “Clothes top the list, with 49% saying they’re looking for a fashion bargain. Beauty and grooming products are next – with 34% of shoppers looking to improve the way they look. Three in 10 will look to land a household product on Black Friday and 29% are hoping to bag a videogames console or games.
“A quarter of Black Friday shoppers have a smart TV on their Black Friday shopping list and 24% say they want to purchase home furnishings, a further 23% of shoppers say they are looking to buy a smartphone and 1 in 5 want some Black Friday jewellery bargains.”
More than half (52%) of Black Friday shoppers are planning to pay for their sales purchases using their debit card, according to the research, with 27% saying they will pay on a credit card instead.
Protecting your purchases
As with any time of year where the number of people shopping online soars, then unfortunately so do the number of scams present. Fraudsters are constantly trying their luck to catch people out, and with the Covid-19 pandemic already seeing consumers be more concerned than ever about being victims of Fraud, Black Friday being the biggest shopping day of the year certainly adds to these concerns. According to a 2019 Barclays survey, almost a quarter of 18-34 year olds have fallen victim to a Black Friday Scam in the past 5 years, with the average loss being £661.
Salman Haqqi recommends paying for your online purchases using a credit card for extra protection: “For added protection on Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases, online or in-store, consider using your credit card.
“Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, if you pay for an item using your credit card, then you have rights to claim a refund from your credit card provider as well as the seller if something goes wrong.“This extra protection applies when you buy an item that costs between £100 and £30,000 and means if the seller goes bust or fails to deliver your item you can approach your credit card company to get your money back.”
André Ferraz is the CEO and co-founder of Incognia, a private identity company that provides location-based behavioural biometrics to companies in consumer finance and mobile commerce for mobile identity verification and authentication.
Having expert insight in this area, he has shared his tips on how consumers can stay safe this festive season and avoid payment fraud:
- Before clicking on links and online ads, be careful with unrealistic discounts and deals. When it looks too good to be true, it is probably a scam; so check the website’s real domain and make sure it is using HTTPS.
- Be careful with unsolicited communications from, supposedly, your bank or an online store saying there is a problem with your account or potential fraud. This is usually used to steal your personal information and security credentials, such as passwords. Fraudsters are great with social engineering and can easily fool consumers by disguising themselves as a reputable company.
- Do not provide any personal information to a website before checking if the company is trustworthy. Look for online reviews and ratings. At any given time there are fake stores being created online.
- Never send your credit card information by email or by text message – this should be a big red flag!
- Do not shop online using public Wi-Fi. The traffic may be monitored by fraudsters and the network may be insecure.
