Research from GfK, a NielsenIQ company, has revealed that Black Friday promotions boosted UK sales of technology, durables, homeware, and seasonal products by 1.8%.
The data also showed that year-on-year sales were up by 7.7%. Turnover for the week hit £992 million.
Personal care products supported the technology and durables category’s strong performance with items such as LED face masks seeing a 302% year-on-year rise and hot air stylers seeing a 17.4% year-on-year rise.
The research also highlighted that headphones and smart watches saw sales of £8 million more than last year.
GfK’s data showed that tumble-dryer sales were shaken up too, with sales increasing 19% year-on-year.
However, the outlook for the technology category wasn’t all positive as sales for products such as TVs, tablets, and smartphones declined.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest agency-related news sent straight to your inbox each morning
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The homeware sector also benefited from Black Friday, with sales increasing 9% in value and 17% in volume. This gave the sector a much-needed boost as the market has been down 4% over the past 12 months. Sales of house houseplants (+27%), candles (+22%), and diffusers (+19%) saw upticks. The data from GfK also showed sales of cookware and tableware (+20%) increased.
Sales for seasonal items also saw an increase compared to last year, with sales of real Christmas trees growing 218% when compared to the same period last year.
GfK senior manager of retail market intelligence, Kelly Creaby said: “All eyes were on Black Friday this year as the Tech and Durables market desperately needed a boost following a flat year in 2024.
“In 2023, it was all about the air fryer which enjoyed a sales surge. This year’s hero products came in the form of self-care, a trend heavily promoted on TikTok and Instagram. We saw LED face masks, electric massagers, and hot air stylers deliver very strong sales. As a result, Black Friday delivered a sales boost with sales value up 1.8% and volume up 7.7% year on year.”
