Forget Black Friday! Cyber Monday is predicted to be the busiest Christmas shopping day of the year for gifts

• 40 per cent expect to make a purchase in four days between Friday and Monday

Cyber Monday is predicted to be the busiest Christmas shopping day of the year for gifts, with spending of £3.34billion.

That would be some 6 per cent ahead of the same day last year – if the forecast is accurate – and significantly higher than Black Friday.

Research by retail experts suggests the best bargains of the weekend are likely to be found on Cyber Monday with millions shopping online rather than visiting the High Street.

Data coming out of retail industry analysts is giving a mixed picture of sales and shopper numbers over the sales event, which kicks off the festive shopping season.

Measures of the number of people actually visiting the shops show a fall compared to last year, which suggests the days of queues and people fighting over cheap TVs are over.

An estimated £3.34billion will be spent on Cyber Monday, making it the busiest day of the year for Christmas shopping 

By contrast, figures out of the Nationwide building society have identified a rise in purchases by its customers with a switch to cyber shopping with a rise in spending via smartphones, laptops and tablets.

The annual festive shopping predictions report from VoucherCodes.co.uk, suggested spending across the weekend will hit £8.71bn, which would be up by a marginal 0.4 per cent on 2022.

Online retail experts and analysts Pattern, who chart price movements, have published research suggesting the best deals are available on Cyber Monday.

It said: ‘For parents looking to find the best deals for their children’s Christmas presents, our data indicates that they should look to wait until Cyber Monday to receive the best value for money.

‘Compared to Black Friday, popular gifts such as PlayStations, Xbox and Nintendo Switches are all cheaper on Cyber Monday compared to Black Friday.

‘Shoppers looking to purchase some of the most consistently popular consumer electronics, including Bose and Sony headphones, Amazon Kindle, Echo and Fire Stick, and Ring Doorbells will also see more bang for their buck on Cyber Monday.’

Anita Naik, savings expert at VoucherCodes.co.uk, commented: ‘Although shoppers will be using this time to stock up on presents ahead of Christmas, people will be making much more considered purchases this year with many waiting until Cyber Monday.

‘Brits are forecasted to spend £3.34billion on Cyber Monday, the highest spend of the whole Black Friday weekend.’ 

Surveys suggest 40 per cent expect to make a purchase over the four day period from Friday through to Cyber Monday. 

Of these, 46 per cent are looking for big-ticket items such as electricals, followed closely by discounted clothing and footwear (44 per cent), toys (35 per cent) and cosmetics (30 per cent).

Surveys suggest 40 per cent expect to make a purchase over the four day period from Friday through to Cyber Monday

Retail analysts MRI Software, who measure shopper numbers, say the figure was up by 8.2 per cent on Friday compared to the week before. Despite this bump, the total was down by 6.1 per cent on the same day last year and by a massive 23.2 per cent compared to pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.

Its Insights Director, Jenni Matthews, said: ‘Footfall remained 23.2 per cent lower than 2019 across all UK retail destinations and 6.1 per cent lower than last year, indicating that the short-term picture is a positive one however we may not return to pre-pandemic levels for events such as Black Friday.’ 

A second company, Sensormatic Solutions, said shopper numbers were down by 3.1 per cent on Friday compared to last year.

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