Black Friday expected to be a record-breaking online affair this year

Spending on Britain’s Black Friday discount shopping day is forecast to break last year’s record takings, though it is expected to be predominantly an online affair this year.

Last year marked a change in the nature of the event imported from the US. It generated record revenue but was unexpectedly subdued in terms of store-based sales, with shoppers put off by bad weather and memories of chaos and scuffles in 2014.

Shoppers searching for deals are expected to focus more sharply on online offers rather than those in stores.

PwC, the accounting and consultancy firm, is forecasting revenue from Black Friday promotions to grow by 38 per cent to £2.9 billion.

Its research found that 27 per cent of British adults intend to buy something over the weekend and on average expect to spend £203, with 77 per cent of the survey’s respondents planning online purchases, against only 17 per cent setting their sights on in-store deals.

Black Friday, the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, was so named because spending would surge and retailers would traditionally begin to turn a profit for the year, moving from the red into the black.

A fixture in Britain since 2010, it falls on Friday this...