Black Friday is the day after thanksgiving in the US. In recent years, UK retailers have been following their American friends and holding black Friday sales.

Retail folk lore says that black Friday is the day retailers go out of the red and into the black. The spending is always epic. Some retailers such as Amazon have already started their Black Friday sales this year, over a week early, in an effort to draw more customers in.

1. $4.45 billion was spent in the US on black Friday 2015.
2. 74.2 million shoppers purchased.
3. In the UK, £2 bilion was spent in 24 hours.
4. 34% of black Friday purchases in 2015 were mobile.
5. Electronics are always hot items on black Friday, and Currys PC World sold 30 televisions a minute online.
6. Amazon sold over 7.4 billion items. – That’s 86 per second.
7. This year UK shoppers are predicted to spend £6.77 billion over the week of 21st – 28th November.
8. More than half of this is expected to be mobile.
9. 88% of consumers now use retail apps.
10. 25% of customers who installed a retail app during black Friday 2015 purchased within 24 hours.

So this years black Friday should be the biggest one ever for retail. Every year, the sale moves more online as customers look to avoid the chaos of shops and supermarkets on black Friday. This year, customers will be looking for even more simplicity and convenience, with most of them choosing to shop using a mobile device. In 2016, the success of black Friday for individual retailers will depend not just on the size of their discounts, but more on how their site functions for those shopping from mobile devices.