B&Q turns its back on Black Friday promotions

The Kingfisher-owned market leader is instead emphasising its everyday low prices stance, following a £100m investment in lower prices in July.

B&Q said research it had commissioned indicated that consumers trust retailers that offer low prices throughout the year more than those that run frequent Sales.

B&Q commercial director Paul White said: “Shoppers have told us they trust stable low prices far more than ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ deals.

“This year, over 3,000 new low prices have been introduced for great quality products.”

The B&Q research found that 46% of consumers did not plan to shop in this year’s Black Friday Sales and 43% said they often or always returned items after regretting purchases made in Sales.

Black Friday takes place on November 23 this year. Industry body IMRG has raised the prospect of it being the “most online day ever” and forecast that £1.54bn will be spent online on the day – a 13.2% rise on last year.

It is anticipated that £8.1bn will be spent during Black Friday week, up 12.5% on 2017.

Since its launch in the UK in 2010, when Amazon imported it from the US, Black Friday has changed peak trading patterns for retailers, frequently drawing spend forward.

Some retailers, such as Fat Face, have refused to participate in previous years and Asda abandoned its involvement after a near riot in one of its stores in 2013.