This weekend is likely to be one of the busiest of the year for many retailers.

Book-ended by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, for many people this will be the last payday before Christmas.

November payday has always been an important trigger of spending.

Many retailers have sought to Hoover up as much cash as they can then through eye-catching deals, marketing pushes or friends and family promotional events that pre-date Black Friday.

But the weekend will take on even more importance this year and consumers’ nose for bargains is likely to be ever more sensitive.

That’s because of the outlook for consumer prices next year.

Next year’s spending, now

The decline of the value of sterling means that prices of goods ranging from food to fashion and electricals look destined to head north.

Canny consumers are likely to buy before the rises erode their purse-power.

“The uncertain economic outlook means that this time it may even drag spend in from the early part of 2017”

AO.com chief executive John Roberts said as much on Tuesday, as the electricals etailer posted interim results.

He believed that shoppers’ expectations of higher prices in 2017 would make the hunger for deals this weekend more pronounced than ever.

When Black Friday arrived in the UK, some retailers feared it would distort the established pattern of Christmas trading.

So it quickly proved as the bonanza dragged forward spending from December.

The uncertain economic outlook means that this time it may even drag spend in from the early part of 2017.

If that happens, retailers could be in for months of grind as they seek to persuade shoppers to reopen their purses.

 

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