Black Friday online sales are expected to grow 2%-3% during the period – defined as November 25 to December 2, 2019 – however, given the ongoing challenges facing retail, the tracker suggests sales could “possibly be flat”.

During December, online retail sales are expected to grow 1%-2%, which is a weak comparison with last year’s growth of 3.6%, which was the lowest month of December on record.

The subdued forecasts have been attributed to several factors including political uncertainty, consumer confidence, heavy discounting periods and bigger spending on leisure and entertainment.