Retailers Braced For Black Friday Frenzy

Keen shoppers braved damp and cold weather to snap up Black Friday bargains today amid forecasts of more record spending.

Queues built up outside a number of stores across the UK from early in the morning though the scenes of wild panic buying seen last year were yet to emerge as dawn broke.

Many consumers were turning to the web for bargains, with online shoppers expected to spend £1bn in a day for the first time.

Internet spending today will hit £1.07bn - a 32% increase on last year's £810m, according to Experian (Other OTC: EXPGF - news) -IMRG.

The Centre for Retail Research anticipates total Black Friday sales, including at high street stores, will reach £1.39bn - and climb to £3.49bn with the proceeds from the weekend and Cyber Monday.

In stores, Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news) expects spending on its cards alone to reach £1.19bn, up 4% on last year. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) forecasts a peak in trading between 1pm and 2pm. Online, Visa expects a sharper rise, of 17%, to £721m. The busiest hour is expected to be between 6pm and 7pm.

Retailers made cut-price deals available online from midnight and many spent the night preparing to open their doors early to customers desperate to snap up discounted stock.

At the Tesco Extra store in Burnley - which last year saw chaos as shoppers grappled for electrical bargains - there were more civilised scenes as shoppers were advice urging calm before entering the store and warned there must be "no abuse or violence".

But there was still evidence of consumer enthusiasm with one shopper revealed she had spent £300 online on a Playtstation and four games before heading to Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) with her partner, with a plan to on from there to Argos.

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) said: "I haven't been to sleep. I've been up all night shopping. I had the laptop, tablet and mobiles on looking for bargains. We are just greedy."

Tesco Extra stores across the country saw moderate crowds queuing ahead of their openings at 5am.

But in London, no consumers turned up for the midnight opening of Boots' flagship Oxford Street store.

The shop workers' union, USDAW, which reported a two-thirds increase in abuse and violence against retail workers on Black Friday 2014, is urging bargain-hunters to "keep your cool".

Police are asking stores to make sure they have adequate security measures in place.

Last year, Black Friday overtook Cyber Monday for the first time as Amazon UK's busiest day, when it sold more than 5.5 million items at a rate of 64 per second.

Consumer advocates are urging shoppers to exercise caution in the rush for bargains.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, says the majority of Black Friday deals "aren't special" and advises shoppers to cross-check them with items they actually need.

"Above all, remember: if you don't want something, don't need it or can't afford it, then don't buy it," he said.