UK shoppers set to enjoy more Black Friday deals as nearly a quarter of Small and Medium sized retailers looking to participate in the sale event this year

New YouGov research finds nearly 1 in 4 UK SME retailers are thinking about participating in Black Friday this year, with 82% of those participating expecting to sell more stock on Black Friday than on an average day

Tens of thousands of UK small businesses – which support over 74,000 British jobs by selling on Amazon Marketplace – expect to see a record breaking Black Friday, after generating tens of millions of pounds in Black Friday sales last year

Amazon is helping to promote selected small British businesses taking part in the Black Friday Sale through a dedicated page at www.amazon.co.uk/smallbizblackfriday

London – 13 November – Black Friday shoppers may see a wider selection of deals this year as new YouGov research released today found that 23% of Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the retail sector are looking at participating in Black Friday, up from 14% who say they participated last year. More than a third (35%) say that Black Friday is one of the most important trading days each year, with 82% of those participating expecting to sell more stock on Black Friday than on an average day.

Small businesses selling on Amazon Marketplace are preparing for record breaking Black Friday sales, offering deep discounts on thousands of great gifts for friends and family throughout Amazon’s Black Friday Sale event.

The Black Friday Sale on Amazon.co.uk will run from 00:00 on Friday 17th November until 23:59 on Sunday 26th November. As well as ‘Deals of the Day’, there will be thousands of ‘Lightning Deals’ - products available at a discount, in limited quantities, for a short period of time - introduced throughout the sale with new deals becoming available as often as every five minutes.

The YouGov research also found that SME retailers believe Black Friday would be even more of a success if customers can discover their businesses and deals online. To help make that a reality, today six small British businesses are taking centre on their own dedicated page at www.amazon.co.uk/smallbizblackfriday, giving potentially millions of customers on Amazon.co.uk the chance to learn more about some of the small businesses taking part in the Black Friday Sale.

The six featured small British businesses include:

• Shearer Candles – Established in 1897, Shearer Candles is a family-run business which designs and makes a selection of candles, candle holders and diffusers. They manufacture their range of scented, pillar and tealights candles in Glasgow and will be participating in Black Friday for the first time this year.
• Lavolio – Lavinia Davoilio founded her own business creating handcrafted, luxury Italian confectionary in 2014. She participated in Black Friday last year and saw a significant surge in sales. On the back of her success selling online she is about to open her first high-street store in London.
• Gamely – Hazel Reynolds, founder of Gamely, quit her job to launch her own business after she created a new family-based entertainment game called Randomise. Last year she sold more than 10,000 copies of her game during Black Friday and now employs three full-time staff to help her run her business.
• Luxelu – Gayle Hunter, Director and Founder at Luxelu, has grown a successful business selling her own brand of lifestyle and beauty products, from stationery to jewellery, homewares and more. She participated in The Black Friday Sale last year where she saw an uplift of 300% on her standard sales.
• One Retail Group – Joshua Stevens is CEO at One Retail Group, which he founded 5 years ago in his early 20s, building a portfolio of lifestyle, personal care and home appliance brands including Pro Breeze and The Body Source. One Retail Group specialises in giftable products such as pure and natural oils, aromatherapy diffusers and Himalayan salt lamps.
• iQualTech – Zamir Cajee, founder and CEO of iQualTech, has built his own brand of high-quality consumer electronics, which include ultra-bass wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers. He exports his products to customers across the world including in the US, Japan and India, as well as across Europe.

Gayle Hunter, Luxelu, said: “Black Friday has grown for us year on year, and it’s helped us to grow our business by increasing sales and reaching new customers. We’re expecting this year to be bigger and better than ever before, with more customers discovering our products, helping to build our brand in the UK and across Europe.”

Amy Galloway, Shearer Candles, said: “The growth of e-commerce has helped us expand our retail stores, and Black Friday has helped us grow our business because we’ve been building on the potential of people’s intent to purchase over that period. By taking part in the Black Friday Sale on Amazon we’re opening ourselves up to new customers who hopefully will repeat buy with us later in the year.”

Hazel Reynolds, Gamely, said: “Black Friday is really important for us as a business as we see the vast majority of our sales October, November, December, and Black Friday is right in the middle of that. Running a Black Friday deal on Amazon gives us the opportunity to showcase our product, get it in front of lots of potential customers and increase our sales.”

Tens of thousands of British businesses of all sizes sell on Amazon Marketplace, supporting more than 74,000 jobs as a result of their business selling on Amazon. Over 60 per cent of these businesses are exporting to customers around the world, with export sales surpassing £1.8 billion last year alone. Last year small businesses achieved tens of millions of pounds in sales during Amazon’s Black Friday Sale.

“We know customers love wide selection and great deals, so we’re glad to see so many of our Marketplace sellers participating in Black Friday,” said Katie McQuaid, Director of Seller Services UK. “Customers now have the opportunity to support British small businesses by discovering unique products at a great price during our Black Friday Sales event, and we’re thrilled to support their continued growth.”
ENDS

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Email: pressoffice@amazon.co.uk 
Tel: 0203 680 0888

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Notes to Editors:
Online research conducted by YouGov Plc surveyed 301 UK owners/proprietors of small businesses operating in the retail industry between 27th October – 2nd November 2017.

A third (35%) of small businesses say that Black Friday is one of the most important days trading days each year: This is based on 13 respondents out of 41 surveyed who said they are participating in Black Friday this year. Whilst this is not considered statistically robust, this indicates the importance of Black Friday for these businesses.

82% of those participating expecting to sell more stock on Black Friday than on an average day: This is based on 27 respondents out of 33 surveyed who said they are participating in Black Friday this year. Whilst this is not considered statistically robust, this indicates the importance of Black Friday for these businesses.

The YouGov research also found that small retailers believe Black Friday would be even more of a success if customers can discover their businesses and deals online: 51% of small businesses who are participating is based from 17 out of 33 respondents. Whilst this is not considered statistically robust, this indicates the importance of Black Friday for these businesses.