UK retailers hit back at "unprofitable" Black Friday sales

Around two thirds of UK retailers believe the Black Friday sales initiative, which has been imported from the US, is "unprofitable and unsustainable".

The sales, which take place at the end of November (in the US these fall after the Thanksgiving holiday), are a recent import the UK but are now already viewed as the official kick-start to the festive shopping season, with many consumers holding out on purchasing until they see what it is on offer during the Black Friday event.

However the number of UK retailers who consider the practice to be damaging to their bottom line has doubled in the past year. According to a survey of 100 UK and US retailers carried out by LCP Consulting, 61% of UK respondents said Black Friday was "unprofitable and unsustainable" compared to just 32% who were asked the same question last year.

In the US however, retailers on the whole still favour the practice with 35% agreeing it was unprofitable and unsustainable, however this compares to just 28% who agreed with the statement this time last year.

Following scenes of fights and scuffles in-store in 2014 many retailers are diverting customers to make their Black Friday purchases online, however this does present significant logistical challenges which can eat into margin.

LCP Consulting estimates that 5m parcels will be returned in the days following the arrival of Black Friday deliveries while 7.5m parcels (up 1m on last year) will be delivered the next day. Around 3.5m Click & Collect orders are expected, with only half actually being collected the next day.

London is expected to generate the highest number of returns with 27% of all purchases sent back while 19% will be returned in Scotland.

A number of retailers took a strong anti-Black Friday stance in 2015; grocer Asda shunned the event while fashion retailer Jigsaw made a point of explaining to its customers on its website why it would not be staging any Black Friday promotions.

Yesterday it was revealed that Whistles had lost £15.5m in the year to the end of January 2016, prior to its acquisition by South Africa's Foschini Group in March. In its accounts, it cited Black Friday as a major reason for its losses and said that its subsequent sale event had performed badly.