and the retailers that are most well-known for Black Friday deals
Black Friday is often viewed as the sale to end all sales, where retailers across the world slash their prices by ridiculous percentages, giving consumers an opportunity to snag bargain Christmas presents, toys, technology, and more.
When you think of Black Friday, (which is always on the Friday that falls after America’s Thanksgiving day) images of customers flocking to queue for hours to get a chance of bagging a bargain might come to your mind. But with multiple independent, and some chain, retailers turning their backs on the tradition in 2021, is Black Friday still the sale of the year?
Displaysense have looked towards Google search data to give us an indication of how popular Black Friday is in the UK, and which retailers the UK public go to for the best Black Friday deals.
There has been a decline in search popularity
The term ‘Black Friday’ started to gain momentum in the UK in 2014, with more users hitting the internet to snap up online bargains. However, it has dropped in popularity since 2019 despite search volumes shooting up during 2020. In 2021, searches for Black Friday were back down to lower levels.
Black Friday Search Volume - UK
Reviewed search volume for November of each year.
This aligns with real-term data from Sensormatic, who reported that retail store traffic recorded in 2021 had dropped 28% compared to 2019 - though they did note that this could have been caused by customers starting their Christmas shopping earlier in the year.
Despite a decline in popularity, Black Friday smashes any other seasonal sale out of the park in the UK in terms of popularity. Boxing Day Sales and Cyber Monday fall short when we look at search volume for November 2021.
Which retailers are best known for Black Friday deals?
When it comes to Black Friday, good brands and retailers know how to drum up excitement amongst their customers - but which is the most popular amongst deal-hungry potential customers?
- Curry’s Black Friday Sale - 40.5K Monthly Searches
Home of all thing’s technology in the UK, these trusted tech giants take the top spot, attracting 40.5k searches in the month of Black Friday last year.
- Argos - 27.1K Monthly Searches
Argos stock and sell a massive range of products, from TVs to children's toys, so it's no surprise they’ve made it into the top 3, having gained 27.1k searches last November.
- John Lewis - 22.2K Monthly Searches
A premium department store that sells anything from bedding to headphones, this is another no-brainer for the top 3, with 22.2k searches being made in a month.
- Boots - 22.2k Monthly Searches
Selling a range of beauty and health products, Boots has taken position 4 in our rankings, with a massive 22.2k people searching for Boots Black Friday deals in Nov 2021
- Aldi - 18.1K Monthly Searches
An unexpected contender, Aldi’s middle-aisle deals are more popular than you might give them credit for, with 18.1k searches being conducted by people trying to find Black Friday steals at the discount retailer.
See the full top 20 below.
Method
We used SEMRush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find terms that included Retailer/Brand Name + Black Friday. This data was exported and ranked from highest to lowest. We reviewed search volume from November, the month when Black Friday occurs, as this is the month that is has the most interest.
Data Sources
SEMRush
Content Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/21/black-friday-largest-boycott-planned-by-independent-retailers
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/27/black-friday-shopping-in-stores-drops-28percent-from-pre-pandemic-levels.html
