Black Friday UK: an introduction
Welcome to techradar's constantly updated Black Friday deals page, your resource for all the best Black Friday deals in the run up to the biggest shopping day of the year. Use the jump links in the box on the right to jump straight to the deals if you wish!
Today is Friday the 13th and it's two weeks until Black Friday itself on November 27th - we've just added an exclusive Xbox One deal to save you £50 on the normal price, as well as loads of other great prices.
If this is your first visift to the page, throughout November we are bringing you the best pre-Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals from all the major and trustworthy UK retailers so you can make sure you always get the best prices.
We've laid them out according to category so you can find the ones you're looking for as easily as possible. So to see the current best deals, check out the sections below. And to read more about Black Friday, check out the explainer towards the bottom of the page!
Why the whole of November and not just on Black Friday, which is on November 27? Because we're expecting retailers to spread the deals out over a wider period this year as the battle for our cash gets ever more fierce!
And of course, you can follow @TRDeals on Twitter to hear about all the best deals first!
What is Black Friday?
If you don't know what we're talking about, Black Friday is a huge American shopping event offering huge savings on electricals and more, and in 2014 it exploded across the rest of the world in unprecedented fashion. In short, the UK went deals mad for 24 hours.
Forget Prime Day. On Black Friday last year, websites crashed, sales records were smashed and shoppers ravenously scooped up deals on tech, games and clothing in what was in many countries the biggest weekend of online shopping in history.
Adobe crunched the numbers and reported that on Black Friday in the US last year consumers spent a record-breaking $2.4 billion - up an extraordinary 24% on the previous year.
In the UK, where shoppers spent £810m ($1.2 billion) last year, John Lewis celebrated its biggest sales week of all time, shifting one Nutribullet food processor every 30 seconds.
Walmart-owned ASDA stores moved 8,000 TVs before breakfast and made 130 sales every secondthroughout the day, while GAME's website was selling PS4 and Xbox One consoles to British gamers at a rate of 3,600 per hour.
It was an international spending frenzy the like of which the internet had never seen before.
So what's in store for Black Friday 2015? Well despite MPs having urged UK retailers to boycott Black Friday this year, the likelihood is that Black Friday will be even bigger and even better than it was last. So where should you go to get the best deals on the day?
Retailers and analysts are already predicting that Black Friday 2015 will see the UK's first ever £1 billion shopping day - over £200m more than we spent last year.
The best Black Friday deals so far...
It's not Black Friday quite yet but there are some great deals out there. These are our favourite ones so far.
Xbox One: Use our exclusive Black Friday deal code TRDXBOX at the checkout to get a brand new Xbox One 500GB with a copy of FIFA 16 for £269.99 - saving £50 on the normal price of £319.99. Only 250 available - when they're gone they're gone! Check out this deal from Techradar and Zavvi
iPhone 6S 64GB | O2 4G | £175 £75 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 3GB data | £31pm
There's currently an absolutely superb deal going at Mobiles.co.uk on the 64GB version of the iPhone 6S. You can save £100 on the phone in any colour with the voucher code BLACKNOV15. Instead of £175 up front you'll only have to pay £75. You'll need to sign up to a contract of £31 per month on O2, but for that you'll get unlimited calls/texts and 3GB data. - see our story on this deal here or jump straight into the deal with these links:
Get this deal in Rose Gold | Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Silver | Get this deal in Space Grey
Samsung Galaxy S6: Use the code SMARTSAVE50 at Carphone Warehouse to get the Galaxy S6 for FREE instead of paying £50 up front. Comes with a great value 6GB 4G plan from Vodafone. See our story on this deal, or jump straight to it at Carphone Warehouse.
Lightning cable for iPhone/iPad: Have you lost your iPhone or iPad cable, or is it becoming frayed and/or damaged? Use our voucher code TECHRAD1 to save 20% and get a higher quality replacement for £6.65 at Amazon UK
PS4: Great Black Friday deal on a PS4 here - pick up the console on its own with one DualShock 4 controller for the all-time low price of £239.97 at Gamestop.co.uk
4K TV: TVs are always responsible for some of the most popular Black Friday deals and that will be the same this year. You can currently get this 40-inch 4K TV from LG, now only £389 at argos.co.uk
Tripods and Monopods: Save 10% on all tripods and monopods at WEX with our code TECHRADAR1
Camera bags: Save 10% on all camera bags at WEX with our code TECHRADAR2
USB wallcharger: Use the code TECHRAD1 to save 20% and get this for £12 at Amazon UK
Gaming deals
We already known from all your tweets and emails that PS4 Black Friday deals are what you really want this year. There are already some good deals out there so we'll be documenting all the best pre-Black Friday PS4 deals throughout November. Expect to see some flash sales with super-low prices on standalone PS4 and Xbox consoles, as well as some really enticing bundle deals which will include games and peripherals. We already know that Game will be offering some really amazing deals, as well as smaller retailers like Zavvi.
Xbox One: Use the voucher code TRDXBOX to get a brand new Xbox One 500GB with a copy of FIFA 16 for £269.99 - saving £50 on the normal price of £319.99. Only 250 available - Check out this deal from Techradar and Zavvi
Wii U: The Wii U basic console + Super Smash Bros is now £179.99 at Smyths Toys
PS4: Get the PS4 on its own with one DualShock 4 controller for the all-time low price of £239.97 at Gamestop.co.uk
Xbox One: Pick up theXbox One 1TB with Fallout 4, Fallout 4 console skin, Call of Duty Ghosts & Now TV 2 month pass now £299 at Game
PS4: Pick up the 500GB PS4 with Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III for just £319.99 at Zavvi
PS4: Get the 1TB PS4 with Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III for £349.99 at Zavvi
PS4: Get the 500GB console with Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Drive Club and NOW TV Movies 2 month pass for £299 at Game
PS4: Get the 500GB console with Destiny: The Taken King for £289 at Tesco direct
Xbox One: Get the Gamer Bundle - the Xbox One with 1 month of EA Access, one free game of your choice, up to two discounted games, accessories of up to £25, 3 months of Xbox Live Gold and £10 Xbox Digital Gift Card all for just £304.99 at Microsoft
Xbox One Wireless Controller: Get one of the new Xbox One pads for £35.86 at shopto
TV & video deals
Cheap TV Black Friday deals are what many people are looking for so we're scanning all of the best sites - Amazon, Currys, Argos, eBay and more - every day, to make sure we put our favourite TV deals in this section. There are likely to be some stunning Black Friday TV deals on the day itself but there'll be some very attractive deals throughout November too, and many of these will expire before the big day itself. If you see a deal you like, be aware that it might sell out at any time at which point we'll remove it from this Black Friday deals page. Here are all the best Black Friday TV deals:
Samsung TV: Get this curved 4K TV for £539.62 at Amazon UK
LG 4K TV: 43-inch Ultra HD 4K TV, reduced to £549 at Amazon UK
LG 4K TV: Get this 40-inch 4K TV from LG, now only £389 at argos.co.uk
Cheap TV: Get this 32-inch Samsung telly for just £209 at Rakuten
LG 43-inch TV: This 43-inch smart HD TV from LG is down to £349 at Argos
Cheap 32-inch TV: Another bargainous 32-incher, this time from Samsung's 2015 range is now £189 at Amazon.co.uk
iPad & tablet deals
Last year, possibly the best Black Friday deals were found on iPads at John Lewis, Amazon and Argos among a few others and this year we're expecting some particularly aggressive deals. The tablet market has crashed of late - fewer people are buying them because most people already have one. That means manufacturers and retailers are very keen to shift stock, so you can expect some very good Black Friday iPad and tablet deals both on the big day and beforehand.
Asus Transformer tablet: Cheap Android tablet running KitKat now £89.99 at EBAY-GB
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2: Get Samsung's best ever 8-inch tablet now for only £249.99 at Amazon.co.uk
LG tablet: Pick up the LG G Pad 8 V80 Android tablet for £99.99 at Amazon.co.uk
iPad mini 2: Another deal on the iPad mini 2 with retina display - this one's going for £196 at Amazon.co.uk
Asus ZenPad Z300C: This Android 5.0 (lollipop) tablet has a £20 saving at Currys, making the price £129.99
Amazon Fire: Get Amazon's 7-inch budget tablet for just £49.99 at Currys
Lenovo Tab 2: Another great option for a cheapo Android tablet - this one's going for £89.99 at Argos
Linx 10: Grab the 32GB model for £129.99 at Ebuyer
Smartphone deals
We've been speaking to Carphone Warehouse, Mobiles.co.uk and other sites and can confirm that Black Friday will be all about smartphone deals this year. There are some truly excellent deals on the way - we wish we could tell you what they are, but we're not allowed to yet - sorry! Rest assured though that the best deals are not limited to the Black Friday itself. The below Black Friday iPhone deal is truly spectacular - if you're after an iPhone 6S, this deal will not be beaten:
Deals hub: The best iPhone and Android phone deals for Black Friday 2015
iPhone 6S 64GB | O2 4G | £175 £75 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 3GB data | £31pm
This really is a superb deal on the 64GB version of the iPhone 6S. You can save £100 on the phone in any colour with the voucher code BLACKNOV15. Instead of £175 up front you'll only have to pay £75. You'll need to sign up to a contract of £31 per month on O2, but for that you'll get unlimited calls/texts and 3GB data. - see our story on this deal here or jump straight into the deal with these links:
Get this deal in Rose Gold | Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Silver | Get this deal in Space Grey
Samsung Galaxy S6: Use the code SMARTSAVE50 at Carphone Warehouse to get the Galaxy S6 for FREE instead of paying £50 up front. Comes with a great value 6GB 4G plan from Vodafone. See our story on this deal, or jump straight to it at Carphone Warehouse.
HTC One M8: Pick up the grey version of last year's best Android phone - now £280 at www.phoneshopbysainsburys.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy: Get the Galaxy S4 smartphone for just £159.95 at Amazon.co.uk
Wireless Charging Pad: Wireless charging for any QI-Enabled device £11.99 at Amazon UK
Want to know more about Black Friday? Read on...
What deals are coming and where from?
As Europe's biggest tech site, Techradar has been contacted by most of the UK retailers who're participating in the Black Friday deals frenzy. While we're unable to tell you any specifics on the most exciting deals (we promise, there are some seriously good deals on the way on laptops, phones, consoles, TVs) we can give you some advice on what to look out for.
Smartphone deals for Black Friday
We've already had one iPhone 6S deal which has become a bit of a sensation over on HUKD, selling in the thousands. But we can assure you that the amazing deals on iPhones and Android phones have only just begun.
We're hearing about some truly amazing smartphone deals on the way - with low or non-existent upfront costs and amazingly cheap contracts. There are also some very attractive SIM only deals on the way as well as some standalone smartphone deals which will land you a great smartphone without having to sign up to a contract. We're talking seriously low prices here, folks - no exaggeration.
Console deals for Black Friday
Predictably, there are lots of excellent Black Friday deals incoming on PS4 and Xbox One - with dustings of Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and 3DS, PS Vita and more thrown in for good measure.
Expect cheapest-ever deals on these products as well as really tempting bundles and heavily discounted games.
Why retailers hate Black Friday deals
This year, analysts are expecting UK shoppers to spend more than £1bn on Black Friday - a truly stunning number.
So how are retailers dealing with this new and disruptive shopping spike, how can you ensure you get the best deals and where will the best bargains be found?
It's safe to say that retailers hate Black Friday. Many of the big ones really hate it. It demands they discount products and thus trim their already small margins at a time when customers would be spending money for Christmas anyway, as well as forcing a drastic rethink of stock levels, staffing in warehouses and in IT departments and all sorts of other logistics at a time when they'd rather be preparing for Christmas.
Last year, many stores panic-slashed product prices on Black Friday with site-wide percentage reductions at the last minute in an effort to get in on the unexpected action, and many ended up making no money as a result. One retailer told techradar that it actually made a loss on Black Friday sales in 2014.
That's the problem with many consumer electronics categories - margins for stores are already quite small.
In short, Black Friday is a brilliant thing for us as consumers, but a total nightmare for online and highstreet stores. But as Adam Simon at IT stock analyst firm CONTEXT told techradar last week, "the genie is out of the bottle now and there's no putting it back in".
Better deals than last year
Of course, for some retailers with certain products it's a different story. and the good news is that while stores dislike discounts, Black Friday is a hot war and you've got to be in it to win it. So you can rule out a retail boycott.
Indeed, numbers from CONTEXT show that UK retailers imported more laptops in October than in any other month in history.
"What we saw in week 41 [beginning of October] was that laptop sales via distribution into retail was up 65% on the previous two years, " said Adam Simon, CEO of CONTEXT in an interview with techradar. "So we thought, 'wow, we'd better watch this space'. Week 42 has gone in the same direction and is extremely high. 70,000 notebooks were distributed to retailers."
That's economies of scale at work - the more products retailers buy in, the lower the prices they pay, and the better the deals for us punters. So if you're after a new laptop, you'd be wise to wait until Black Friday because the deals are likely to be better even than Black Friday 2014. You'll still need to be quick off the mark to get the best bargains though - allow us to be your guide on that score!
You can also expect superb deals on 4K TVs, PS4 and Xbox One console bundles, Chromecasts, iPads and smartphones as well.
The other trick that retailers are pulling this year is to spread the deals out over a wider period.
"We'll be running deals and promotions throughout November to make things easier for ourselves," one major UK retailer, which asked to remain anonymous, told TechRadar. "Consumers now expect discounts throughout this period so to make the best of it we have to plan ahead and make sure we order the right products in the right numbers to guarantee leading prices and adequate stock levels."
That's music to many a Christmas-shopping ear. So you can expect not only best-ever deals on Black Friday itself, but throughout the month leading up to the big day as well.
TechRadar isrunning a pre-Black Friday deals on which we're listing what we think are the best new bargains, so do check in with us next week to have a look.
The secret nature of Black Friday deals
One interesting undercurrent of this new and exciting deals period is how secretive each retailer is being with its planned promotions. We've been in touch with all the major online stores and they're all happy to speak to us... off the record.
Most seem very concerned that their rivals will uncover their plans ahead of time and price-match their carefully orchestrated marketing campaigns. It's almost like a Tom Clancy novel, except it's Mr. John Lewis vs Dr. Amazon instead of Khrushchev vs Kennedy.
I guess that would make this article The Hunt For Black November. Or, The Sum of all Deals. Or, Clear and Present Changer. I'll stop now.
Is Black Friday big in Europe
In 2014 there was a small uplift in Black Friday sales in Germany but it was nowhere near as big as it was in the UK. And judging from the latest product-import figures, it certainly looks like it'll once again be far bigger in the UK compared with elsewhere in Europe.
Analysts are predicting that the UK will account for two thirds of all the money spent on Black Friday 2015 which goes to show how insignificant it is throughout the continent. While UK shoppers are expected to spend £1bn, Germany will account for just £281m, with £45m in Italy, £38m in Spain, £26m in Holland and £19m in Belgium. France doesn't even make the list.
Of course, things are still far, far bigger in the US where shoppers are expected to splash out as much as £1.72 billion on Black Friday this year, a truly enormous number which is 16% more than last year's figures. Canada, meanwhile, will likely account for £57m in 'pre-Christmas' sales which includes Black Friday but also the rest of the shopping season.
It's a whole weekend of spending
Of course, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday sandwiching an entire weekend between them, shoppers are expecting to continue flashing the cash for the enture four day period with perhaps as much as £2.2bn being spent on tech, clothes, shoes, white goods and everything else during the Cyber Weekend. That's 15.9% more than last year.
Greasing the poles
The Digital Strategy Consultancy says that one way UK retailers will make it easier for us to spend our money this year is by creating more dedicated Black Friday pages. Up to 84% of all retailers are planning special deals pages this year so it'll be easier for you to find your way around.
Problems with delivery?
One thing to certainly look out for this year is increased delivery times. If you want to make sure you get your purchases straight away, you might have to pony up for speedy delivery. Standard or free delivery purchases will likely take a week or two to arrive. That's because retailers recognise that most of the things you buy will be for Christmas and thus won't require super speedy delivery. If you do require it - you'll need to make sure you specify your needs when you order.
"Black Friday is now a firm fixture on the UK retail calendar and retailers that were 'knocked sideways' by Black Friday in 2014 are making sure they are fully prepared this time round," says Giulio Montemagno, SVP & GM International, RetailMeNot.
"With shoppers now expecting retailers to offer Black Friday promotions, we're finding that some retailers are delaying promotions in early November so as to capitalise upon the anticipated spike in sales on Black Friday and the start of the Christmas shopping period. Furthermore, after coming under fire in 2014, retailers are investing in making sure that the shopping experience doesn't falter this year."
What happened on Black Friday last year?
The numbers on Black Friday in 2014 were so big that websites fell over like Victorian ladies on a hot day, with HP, Best Buy, Currys, Tesco, Argos, Boots and Game's websites all requiring smelling salts.
The Currys website in the UK crashed despite the company having implemented a system where users had to queue to use it, a queue that was still over an hour long by lunchtime.
The chaos isn't over, either. Black Friday 2015 is now just six months away and it promises to dwarf last year's stats in almost every way. Online retailers are already planning for it.
You're much safer online...
Of course, Black Friday is not by any means a phenomenon that's confined to the virtual realm.
It was conceived originally as a unit mover for high street retailers, a way for stores to shift a lot of stock at a time when most people in the US have time off work for Thanksgiving.
And while Black Friday chaos online led to websites crashing, bedlam on the highstreet tends to be a lot more troublesome.
Last year, fighting broke out in many stores in the UK, with Police being called to supermarkets including a number of Tesco stores which were heavily criticised afterwards by police. In Scotland, one supermarket had to be closed due to the excessive number of people trying to push their way inside.
While in the US, it's not unheard of for bargain hunters to pepper spray each other in an attempt to get the best deals...
Clearly - it's much safer to stay at home and pick up your deals on the internet, and that's what the majority of people did on Black Friday 2014.
To give you an idea of just how busy the sites were, John Lewis and Currys - two of the UK's biggest retail websites - both saw their web traffic triple compared to Black Friday 2013. Meanwhile, TechRadar's own Black Friday pages attracted more than 1.6 million page views.
So it's no exaggeration to say that the pre-Christmas retail landscape was changed forever on November 28 last year. Retailers knew Black Friday 2014 was going to be big, but it actually ended up being far bigger than they ever imagined.
So what lessons have they learnt, and what can we as consumers expect from Black Friday 2015?
Lessons from the past
Some stores were like ducks on Black Friday - they may've appeared calm, but under the water their little legs were going like crazy
Some retailers were like ducks on Black Friday last year: they may have appeared calm, but under the water their little legs were going like crazy.
Some stores totally panicked, as Patrick O'Brien of retail analysts Verdict Retail told TechRadar:
"Some retailers like Amazon planned promotions well in advance, but others were sucked in when they saw the scale of Black Friday and realised that without promotions, they would lose out on footfall or website hits in a key spending weekend."
The upshot? Those retailers cut prices even though they hadn't originally planned to.
"Those retailers ended up losing margin as they typically went for a percentage cut across numerous or even all lines, rather than having planned promotions that they could have organised with the help of their suppliers," O'Brien says.
More bandwidth to retail sites
One of the key ways UK retailers are planning to sell more items this year is to ensure their sites don't crash like last year. 68% of them are planning to "hire or rent more storage capacity near urban hubs" so that the immense traffic doesn't take them down.
Winners and losers of Black Friday 2014
Not everybody was hurt, though. Some firms used Black Friday as cover. "The weather meant that clothing retailers had a lot of stock left to shift, so they used the cover of Black Friday to mark down stock."
And others had deals in place with their suppliers to deliver apparent bargains, with stock bought in especially for Black Friday.
You can see the Black Friday winners and losers in ComScore's UK figures for November 2014. The big winners were mainly large electrical, digital and entertainment retailers, with Amazon, Argos and Tesco at numbers 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
In America, meanwhile, we're seeing an interesting shift: the Black Friday money is moving to Thanksgiving instead.
According to IBM, Black Friday sales were 63.5% higher than Thanksgiving Day sales - but last year they were 70%. For US consumers, Black Friday is increasingly becoming a shopping weekend that starts on Thanksgiving and ends on Cyber Monday
Indeed, Cyber Monday is bigger than them all for US customers - last year's Cyber Monday was the US's biggest online shopping day ever.
Where does all the money come from?
One of the most interesting questions about Black Friday is whether it created new demand or just brought forward people's Christmas shopping by a few weeks.
The answer appears to be the latter - Verdict Retail found "no evidence that it stimulated demand" - and some retailers' panicky discounting was tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot.
Essentially, the Black Friday frenzy moved a lot of stock, but that stock was less profitable than usual.
AO.com founder and chief executive John Roberts used the firm's annual report to note that Black Friday "did not produce incremental sales, but condensed sales into a shorter time period", while GAME issued a profits warning because its heavy discounting on games and consoles had a negative effect on its bottom line.
In the US, IBM reported that while overall sales were up, the average order value was down across both Black Friday and Thanksgiving.
That might explain why John Lewis boss Andy Street has poured cold water on the idea of Black Friday, telling the BBC that "We've got to ask if it's right to concentrate trade so much in that one period I don't think we can put the genie back in the bottle but do we need to stoke that fire any more? I personally hope not."
Street predicts that Black Friday 2015 will still see lots of deals around electronics and computing, but says he hopes that fashion brands and other kinds of retail would be "more confident holding their price."
As Patrick O'Brien points out, though, John Lewis's "never knowingly undersold" guarantee means that if rivals go crazy on Black Friday 2015, "it cannot opt out!"
Rubbish for retailers, excellent for everyone else
If you take a step back, Black Friday should really be called Foolish Friday. Slashing profit margins during the busiest shopping period of the year for no good reason doesn't make much sense, not least because it gives retailers less room to manoeuvre if sales closer to Christmas need some extra oomph.
But as John Lewis's Andy Street said, the genie's out of the bottle - so if retailers don't take part, they'll see their rivals get all the business.
GAME issued a profit warning because its heavily discounted games and consoles had negative effects on its bottom line
And that's why Black Friday 2015 is likely to be another step up in terms hype and excitement.
Expect even more commercials leading up to Black Friday, bigger headline promotions and even more chaos.
"Black Friday is here to stay," Patrick O'Brien says, "but it will be a lot different in 2015. Retailers are planning for it."
You can be sure that retailers are already talking to their suppliers about the kinds of promotions they can support, and that the deals we see this year will be what Verdict describes as "geared toward gaining footfall and upsetting to full price goods rather than across the board percentage discounts."
What deals can we expect for Black Friday 2015?
It's impossible to know for sure which products will receive the biggest discounts this year, but we can certainly make some predictions based on what we saw in 2014.
One of the hottest products on Black Friday last year was the iPad mini and that will likely be the case again in 2015. In fact we'll likely see some highly attractive deals on many Apple products, partly because they're so popular but also because there is room for manoeuvre in their prices.
Last year in the US we saw the Macbook Pro and 21.5-inch iMacs selling for $900 a pop, with Macbook Airs available for $780. In the UK the iPad mini was going for under £150 practically everywhere.
Expect bargainous Black Friday deals on iPads, consoles, 4K TVs, laptops, headphones, video games and cameras
It's worth retailers offering us these headline products with big discounts because they expect that we'll buy more than one item once we're on their site.
It's a safe bet also that Black Friday 2015 will see the cheapest-ever PS4 and Xbox One deals as well as some irresistible bundles. If you fancy buying your kids a console this Christmas, wait until November 27.
We saw many amazing deals on TVs last year so if you're interested in buying a 4K TV in time for Christmas, again you'd be wise to wait for the Black Friday deals madness to begin.
Last year in the we also saw amazing soundbar deals, DualShock 4 game controllers for under half price, Google Chromecasts for under $23/£18, huge savings on iPhones, amazing deals on cameras of all shapes and sizes from all the biggest brands, headphones, fitness bands, speakers.
You get the picture. Expect more of the same...
Where to find the best Black Friday deals in 2015:
Here's our rundown of where you will find the best Black Friday deals throughout November this year and specifically on Friday 27th November itself.
TechRadar.com:
Last year, over a million people visited TechRadar's Black Friday deals page where we rounded up all of the best deals from all of the most trusted retailers in the UK. This year, you'll be pleased to hear, we're doing it all over again! Throughout November we'll bring you a constantly updated page with all of the hottest tech and games deals on the internet, from super cheap PS4 bargains to laptops, TVs, Chromecasts, iPads and anything else we can find. If it's an amazing Black Friday deal, we'll have it on TechRadar.com!
Carphone Warehouse
Many of the very best and most popular deals during Black Friday last year came courtesy of Carphone Warehouse. The contract reseller was responsible for discounts of up to £200 on new iPhones throughout the weekend and will likely get in on the action again this year as it seeks to capitalise on the increased spending during the period. It won't just be iPhones either.
Quick link: Carphone Warehouse Black Friday homepage
Mobile Phones Direct:
Of course, Carphone Warehouse might be the most familiar phone deal reseller in the UK but there are others and Mobile Phones Direct has become a big name in the last couple of years. The site was offering some compelling Black Friday deals in 2014 and will be doing so again. Expect Black Friday 2015 deals on iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones and plenty more.
Quick link: Mobile Phones Direct Black Friday deals homepage
Mobiles.co.uk:
Like the sites above, Mobiles.co.uk is taking advantage of the growing trend to buy and upgrade phone contracts online rather than on the highstreet. The site will be featuring many attractive Black Friday deals as it attempts to compete with Carphone Warehouse and Mobile Phones Direct as well as the networks themselves. If you're due for a new phone come November time, be sure to check out these three sites before you choose a deal.
Quick link: Mobiles.co.uk Black Friday homepage
Amazon.co.uk:
In 2014, Black Friday was Amazon UK's busiest day ever with about 64 products being sold every single second and you can count on the online retail supergiant being right in the thick of it in 2015 as well. Expect enticing sales discounts in practically every area, from tech and games to kitchenware, white goods, furniture, clothing and everything else.
If this year's Prime Day is anything to go by, there will be more emphasis on lightning deals this year - deals which last just one day or even just a matter of hours before they either sell out or time out. That would mean that you'd need to be more on the ball to get the best deals out of Amazon this Black Friday, but while Prime Day was almost entirely lightning deals, Black Friday and indeed 'Black November' will certainly offer a lot more across the board. Last year's best deals on Black Friday included PS4 and Xbox one bundles for up to £100 off, 5.1 home cinema systems for £105 and Kindle tablets for crazy cheap prices.
Quick link: Amazon Black Friday homepage
John Lewis:
John Lewis' managing director spoke out in January, warning against heavy discounting on Black Friday. His argument is sound, that retailers are shooting themselves in their collective feet by all heavily discounting. The flip side to that, though, is that if everyone else is doing it, John Lewis will be forced to follow suit. So you can expect John Lewis to offer similar deals to last year. The best Black Friday deals from John Lewis in 2014 included iPad mini deals for £150, good discounts on Apple Macbooks and a powerful price match scheme to outfox its competitors.
Quick link: John Lewis Black Friday homepage
Currys.co.uk:
In 2014, Currys introduced a controversial queuing system that had online visitors waiting up to 30 minutes to even access its site. Was this an attempt to drum up interest or was it simply to try and avoid the site crashing? Cynics be damned - we think it was a genuine attempt to stop the damaging impact of website crashes, and that's supported by the fact that most of the major retail sites in the UK did indeed go down for prolonged periods in 2014. Expect Black Friday deals from Currys on all things - computing, gadgets and mobile. Last year there were deals on Beats by Dre headphones, Apple iPad Air 2's were going for £209 and there were good discounts on Nikon DSLRs and lost more - in 2015 we'd expect laptops, iPads and tablets, peripherals, kitchen goods and everything in between.
Quick link: Currys Black Friday homepage
Argos.co.uk:
If Black Friday 2015 is anything like last year, many of the best deals will be found at Argos. However, this is another retailer that warned against the sales frenzy of Black Friday in January - its excellent Black Friday deals in November ended up negatively impacting its sales over Christmas which might point to a more reserved offering in 2015. However, with a whole year to plan the word is that Argos will still be offering up a whole range of Black Friday deals in all its areas - last year we have amazing deals on TVs, great PS4 bundle deals and everything else from electric toothbrushes to Dyson vacuum cleaners at £149.99 and lots more.
Quick link: Argos Black Friday homepage
GAME.co.uk:
GAME is definitely a hot retailer to keep an eye on during Black Friday 2015. Last year's best deals included PS4 DualShock 4 controllers for under £30, PS4 bundles such as the console PLUS Grand Theft Auto V AND The Last of Us Remastered AND Destiny + Vanguard AND a 12 month subscription to PlayStation Plus... all for just £399.99. The Black Friday deals were so attractive that GAME was one of the sites that crashed for long periods last yearso expect more of the same, but hopefully less crashes!
Quick link: GAME Black Friday homepage
Zavvi.co.uk
Specialising in movies, games and tech, Zavvi went aggressive on Black Friday last year and we have it on good authority that they'll be delivering some truly exciting deals on Black Friday 2015. Expect some best-ever PS4 and Xbox One deals as well as some sweet savings on DVD and Blu-ray boxsets, console games and assorted tech items like iPads and laptops. We'll be listing the site's best deals on this page, so you can either come to us for our selection of the best ones or go straight to Zavvi's Black Friday page.
Quick link: Zavvi Black Friday deals page
ebuyer.com:
Ebuyer is a trusted retailer of computing goods such as laptops, hard drives, memory cards, components, software, TV and office supplies. The site has, in the last couple of years, offered up to 50% on products in all of its various categories. So if you're looking for a new USB hard drive, a computer monitor or a laptop, ebuyer.com will certainly be worth checking out!
Quick link: ebuyer.com daily deals homepage
Boots.co.uk:
This year, Boots is promising "more unmissable Boots Black Friday offers, both online and in store". In 2014, the deals from Boots were quite varied but included items such as wearables, electric toothbrushes, hairdryers etc. Expect more of the same this year - if there's an item you've got your eye on at Boots, it's probably worth waiting for Black Friday just to see if it goes into the sale.
Quick link: Boots Black Friday homepage
ASDA.com:
ASDA is traditionally one of the shops that makes the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Black Friday. This year it has announced a new strategy for Black Friday which is to not get involved at all. It says it plans to reduce prices throughout the spending season instead of throwing everything at just one day of huge discounts. This shouldn't affect the Black Friday season online but does show that the negative press around highstreet promotions could be turning some stores away.
Quick link: ASDA Black Friday homepage
Tesco Direct:
Tesco Direct is building itself a good reputation as a destination for good prices on tech items online, although last year it, like ASDA, hit the news for the wrong reasons. Many of the best PS4 deals on Black Friday last year were available from this site so it's almost a given that we'll see the same again this year. Expect also excellent deals on ipads and tablets, Xbox Ones, HD TVs, 4K TVs, Blu-ray players, Google Chromecasts and plenty more including videogames, DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Quick link: Tesco Direct Black Friday homepage
Apple.com:
Apple's form on Black Friday has been inconsistent on Black Friday. The Apple Store will likely offer some discounts on iPads and Macbooks, but as per last year you'll probably find better deals on offer elsewhere from sites like John Lewis, Currys and Amazon.
Quick link: Apple UK homepage
Sainsburys.co.uk:
Sainsbury's has, for the last few years, created a special section in its stores for Black Friday deals and has also started offering more bargains online. It has less form than ASDA and Tesco among its supermarket rivals but the Sainsbury's website is becoming more of a force in 2015 so it's certainly one to keep an eye on. Last year's in-store bargains included super cheap TVs, projectors, Dyson vacuum cleaners and Amazon Kindles.
Quick link: Sainsbury's Black Friday homepage
Marks & Spencer:
Last year was the first time M&S participated in the Black Friday deals frenzyand while it didn't go crazy like some of its competitors, it will have seen how much money was spent on the day last year and want to get in on the action a bit more in 2015. M&S now has a growing electronics arm so be prepared for TVs, hi-fi, Blu-ray deals as well as iPads and the rest. Marks & Spencer won't be the place for the most Black Friday bargains, but it might surprise with one or two stand-out offers.
Quick link: Marks & Spencer homepage
Debenhams.co.uk
Debenhams has been in touch to let us know that it, too, will be banging the Black Friday drum on November 27th. It's not much of a tech retailer, though it does sell tablet, laptops, TVs and home cinema systems. Expect to see some excellent discounts across its vast range of items including clothes, shoes, kids toys, white goods and other electricals as well as home and kitchenware!
Quick link: Debenhams Black Friday homepage
Black Friday 2014: one for the history books
Did you pick up any amazing Black Friday deals? I got a watch I'd fancied for ages and a TV I didn't think I could afford.
If you're wondering what the blimmin' heck I'm on about, then you might just have missed some brilliant bargains.
I'm talking about Black Friday, which has gone from a weird thing Americans do to one of the most important bits of the tech fan's calendar.
Black Friday is the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, and it's when retailers start slashing prices to kick-start the festive shopping season.
It's famous for the so-called "doorbuster" deals, amazing and amazingly limited special offers that just happen to cause outbreaks of fisticuffs in front of news cameras, which in turn make the viewing public think that that particular retailer must be bargain central. Funny how that happens, eh?
There's a second day, Cyber Monday. That's the Monday following Black Friday, and it's supposedly the day when everybody goes "aaaagh! It's December! Must buy presents!"
Many retailers offer Cyber Monday deals now, although they tend to be more modest than Black Friday ones and fewer people get into fights. Next up? Boxing Day sales!
How Black Friday hit big in the UK
In a few short years the British have gone from mocking Black Friday to getting rather excited about it.
Barclaycard reports that this year's Black Friday was the highest spending day on record, with online sales up 37.5% compared to last year.
John Lewis reported that sales were up 56.8% week on week and 21.8% year on year, with the firm shifting an impressive £179.1 million in a single week.
WorldPay says the number of transactions was up 124% while Visa Europe reported spending rising by 1.6%. The New West End Company, which represents businesses on London's Oxford Street, Regent Street and New Bond Street, expected £220 million to be spent in those three streets alone in one day.
The overall picture is the happiest the high street, virtually and in the real world, has been for some time.
And the online numbers are particularly impressive when you consider that the moment Black Friday began, many retailers' websites fell over like a Victorian gentlewoman confronted by a flasher.
Some sites' "we're too busy! Queue now!" pages looked a little suspicious - so for example disabling JavaScript on the Currys website bypassed the traffic wardens and took you to a very smooth and quick-running website, which was very interesting.
But stores like Game were genuinely offline as angry execs no doubt threatened to take the web teams' Nerf guns and amusing desk ornaments if they didn't get the site back online, stat.
In the US, HP and Best Buy went down; in the UK people found themselves unable to access Argos, Tesco and Boots.
If only there was some way of predicting when demand was likely to be quite high, such as LOOKING AT YOUR OWN SODDING ADVERTS. Ahem.
Were there really Black Friday bargains?
Yes, there were. Our teams of highly trained bargain finders tracked some really good deals on laptops and routers, TVs and Hi-Fis, Chromecasts and consoles and Kindle Paperwhites and Apple iPads.
Some deals were too good to be true - a quick price check of some (but not all) of Amazon's lightning deals showed that some rivals' un-discounted prices were awfully close to Amazon's discounted ones - but others, such as 60% off fine technology magazines, were genuinely good.
And as we may have already mentioned, your correspondent got a big telly.
What's in it for retailers?
They get to shift old stock to make room for new things, and many of us buy more than just the bargain - so for example you might buy a flat-screen TV, remember that every single one of them sounds like it's been thrown down a well, and shell out for a soundbar too; or you might buy a set of Beats headphones and a funny little hat to put on top of them.
Cross-selling isn't the only way retailers make money: in some cases, what the shops lose by slashing their profit margins is more than compensated for by selling the items in large volumes.
What's in it for me?
Cheap things! UK retailers aren't quite as mad as the US ones - even the biggest doorbusters were fairly modest deals on things such as Polaroid TVs when US shoppers were getting 300% off Mac Pros and helicopters and guns and stuff.
But discounts are discounts, and if you got a good deal and you also used a cashback debit or credit card and signed up for a cashback website and applied a voucher code the retailer probably owes you money now, or at least a hug.
What should I do for Black Friday next year?
Homework. We'd recommend bookmarking a smart, sassy, thoroughly independent tech website - hello! - and finding a great source of deals worth looking at - hello again! - so that you don't waste time on pointless offers.
This page right here will be the place to come for all the best bargains on all the best products.
And we'd suggest a shopping list, not of specific model numbers (the likelihood of the GargleBargle BHS21212/EGH3/B2-E42 just happening to come with a 70% discount is pretty slim) but of brands and broad product categories.
If you know the going rate for a 50-inch Samsung LED TV, you'll know whether £100 off the one you're looking at is a good deal or just the going rate; similarly if you know that the iPad you're looking at is the latest one, you'll know that even £30 off is pretty good going.
When is Black Friday?
In 2015, Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November. That gives you plenty of time to start saving, or to learn martial arts if you fancy your chances down the local ASDA at midnight.
Cheat sheet: What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving, and it represents a perfect storm for retailers: many people in the US have the day off, and as a result it's been the busiest shopping day of the year for nearly a decade.
To make things even busier, many retailers now offer some of their best sale bargains on Black Friday. Even Apple joins in.
When is Black Friday?
That depends on when you're reading this. If it's 2014, Black Friday is Friday 28 November. If it's 2015, it's Friday 27 November. And if it's 2013, you've been asleep for a year. The things you've missed!
How did Black Friday get its name?
Take your pick: some say it's the day that retailers' profits finally move into the black, although Wikipedia reckons that the true origin of the term comes from Philadelphia where it referred to the disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that occurred during the holiday.
Is Black Friday as big a deal as it seems?
Yes it is. Every year there are reports of fisticuffs as bargain-crazed shoppers beat each other up, partly because of the practice of using "doorbusters" - amazing and excruciatingly limited deals to attract as many customers as possible. US-based retailers such as Amazon are now keen to make it a tradition here in the UK.
Is Black Friday connected to Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is the Monday immediately after Black Friday, and it was invented in 2005 in an attempt to create an online equivalent of Black Friday. What this has resulted in now, is an entire 4-day weekend of hot deals both in store and online.
What's TechRadar doing for Black Friday?
No one likes a tech bargain more than TechRadar! And we don't want to keep them all to ourselves.
So we'll be beavering away tirelessly all weekend to constantly bring you the hottest deals as they go live online. You'll need to keep your wits about you though, because many deals only last for an hour or until stocks run out. So you need to be quick off the mark - and we'll be on hand to make it as easy for you as possible.
Tune in to TechRadar on November 28th, 29th, 30th and December 1st to get at the hot deals first!
Where do retailers put their best Black Friday deals?
Don't you know that patience is a virtue?! It's not Black Friday yet, but okay - we've put together a list of retailer's Black Friday pages so that you can take a look now and see what it's all about. We'll be adding more soon, and of course, this page on TechRadar will be the place to be with a curated list of all the best deals!
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