Black Friday Comes Early to UK as Amazon, Currys Roll Out Deals

Black Friday is meant to arrives on the last Friday of November, but in the UK the firing gun has already been fired, with Amazon starting to roll out its top deals already.

Many consumers have started their Christmas shopping early, in response to shortages and constrained availability of popular items. The Confederation of British Business recently reported that retail stock shortages were at their worst levels since 1985.

From Turkeys to wine, there have been fears that there could be even more gaps on the shelves than there already are, so many families have been stocking up early.

From the 8 to 18 November Amazon is holding what it is flagging as “early Black Friday deals”. Many of the top deals are time-limited, set to expire between 2 and 10 days’ time.

Amazon is no the only retailer that appears to have brought forward its plans for the festive shopping season.

Major electronics retailer Currys has started promoting its Black Friday offerings. The bricks and mortar and online retailer has deep cuts on everything from TVs to laptops. As with Amazon, there are deals to be grabbed with reductions of up to 45%, sometimes more.

Tesco is taking a slightly different approach, with its early Black Friday offerings limited to ClubCard loyalty card holders, with the goods on sale confined to mobile phone handsets and contracts.

Smaller retailers may lose out to deep-pocketed competitors

However, there are fears that smaller retail businesses without the buying power of Amazon, Currys or Tesco, will be at an even greater competitive disadvantage than might normally be the case, as deeper pocketed companies use their financial power to help them overcome of minimise supply chain problems.

There are reports of special trains being secured to guarantee deliveries. Amazon has been able to book up shipping containers at rates beyond the pockets of smaller competitors.

Once containers have got to the ports, congestion there is creating further delays, made worse by the shortage of HGV drivers.

Supermarkets have been offering new drivers signing on fees in some cases in excess of £2,000 which has had the effect of luring drivers from other areas of the economy. A number of local authorities are experiencing difficulties keeping drivers in their refuse department.

Amazon is paying a signing-on fee for delivery workers of as much as £3,000.

According to the Office for National Statistics toys and food are top categories for the early shopping crowds.

Many of the best deals available on the Amazon site are for its own brands, such as Ring door bells. One of the best deals is its Echo Dot range of Alexa-powered smart speakers, where a promo code will secure a great BOGOF deal.

Over at Curry’s you can save £500 on an 65-inch LG 4k Ultra HD TV and save £70 on JBL wireless earbuds.