Barclaycard reports drop in Black Friday spending compared to last year

Barclaycard Payments has reported a 13.6 percent decrease in the volume of payments as of 12:00 on Black Friday, compared to the same day in 2019.

There has been a decrease in the overall transaction value of 7.3 percent compared to 2019 and a 30.5 percent increase in e-commerce transactions compared to last year, according to Barclaycard Payments, which processes nearly one pound in every three pounds spent in the UK.

Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments, said in a statement: “Black Friday has always been a primarily in-store event. In a typical year, about two-thirds of the transactions we process on Black Friday come from in-store sales, with the rest coming from online. This year, with non-essential businesses unable to open across large parts of the UK, and retailers spreading out their online deals throughout the month to avoid a bottleneck, it’s no surprise that transaction volumes are not living up to last year’s record-breaking highs.

“Instead, we predict that Wednesday, December 2 – the end of the national lockdown in England – will see a surge of shoppers heading back to the high street to hunt for bargains in-store, with transactions likely surpassing what we’re seeing today. As a result, the milestone that retailers should start focusing on is not Black Friday, but Black Wednesday.”

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