Warning of shopper fatigue looks to have materialised this year as the Black Friday rush flops on the high street.
Fences were erected outside many shops to avoid the chaos that broke out over the past few years, but they stood empty at the start of trading as most shoppers decide to stay at home to bag the best deals.
Online spending on Black Friday is expected to reach £1 billion, up 16 per cent on last year, while it is anticipated that the majority who opt for the High Street will spend a lower total of around £961 million.
Indeed, many shoppers got up early to bag the best offers. John Rogers, the new chief executive officer of Argos, told the BBC that there had been 500,000 visits to the retailer’s website in the first hour of online trading, between midnight and 1am.