With Black Friday round the corner, research conducted by McCann Birmingham for Prologis, a leading owner, investor and developer of logistics real estate, has unwrapped the nation’s shopping habits, showing that nearly half of all UK shoppers receive three to five parcels to their doors each week. The UK is a nation of online shoppers, with data from Ofcom[1] revealing parcel volumes of approximately 3.6 billion in 2022-23.
The pressure to deliver on Black Friday is further highlighted by Royal Mail’s recent recruitment drive to source 16,000 temporary workers across two sites in Daventry and Warrington for November and December, when it expects to be processing 1.7 million parcels daily across both locations.[2]
Paul Weston, Prologis UK Regional Head, said: “Making sure everybody gets their online orders delivered this Black Friday is a monumental task. The logistics behind it is what makes this event possible and couriers, distribution businesses and delivery companies up and down the country are all working at maximum capacity to make sure our parcels land on our doorsteps. The fact that such a huge number of orders are made with next day delivery makes this even more of a challenge.”
The research went on to find that in the most extreme cases, 8% of UK shoppers are eagerly ushering a whopping total of between 11 and more than 20 parcels a week into their homes. UK consumers are creatures of habit too, with 59% of UK shoppers surveyed stating they go straight to Amazon in the search for Black Friday bargains.
Weston, continues: “The days of people rushing to get TVs and appliances off the shelves are long gone. Black Friday is now all about logging on and browsing. People are enthusiastic online shoppers on a normal basis, so you can imagine the extra pressure on our logistics networks during November and in the run up to the December holidays.”
The research revealed that Black Friday is a key moment in the consumer calendar for Christmas preparations, with over half (54%) of respondents saying that they used the occasion for grabbing presents for loves ones. 34% use Black Friday for spontaneous deal-grabbing, 30% for getting gifts for friends and loved ones and 27% for getting gifts for themselves.
When asked which ‘shopping persona’ they would be, respondents revealed a keen interest in using Black Friday to scout out the best deals, with almost a quarter (23%) classifying themselves as “Bargain Hunters”. 20% admitted to being “Online Gurus”, using online delivery to avoid crowds and getting all their purchases delivered.
For the majority (71%) of the UK population Black Friday triggers the start of Christmas shopping.
Paul Weston, continues: “The shopping calendar has changed. Retailers used to prepare for single days or moments like Christmas or Easter when most people would go out to shop in person. Now, the growth of online shopping and deal days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday means that planning is much more complex.
“As customers, we expect a seamless experience; just a few clicks, a short wait and a ring at the door - without seeing the monumental effort going on behind the scenes to make that a possibility.”
[1] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/postal-services/monitoring-reports/2022-23/post-monitoring-report-2022-23?v=330546