Black Friday sales bonanza ruled out by B&Q

B&Q will abandon Black Friday for the first time this year as it released research suggesting almost half of consumers do not plan to shop in the sales event.

The DIY chain said it would instead focus on “year-round low prices”, claiming research found shoppers do not trust Black Friday deals and are turning away from the event.

Some 46% of people say they are not planning to shop in this year’s event on November 23, according to a poll for the store, while 43% said they often or always returned items after regretting purchases made in short-term sales.

B&Q announced in July it was investing £100 million in bringing down overall shop prices as it aims to cut back on promotions and discounts.

The firm’s commercial director Paul White said: “Shoppers have told us they trust stable low prices far more than ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ deals, which is why we have invested £100 million in our year-round low prices across the store.”

Last year, Walmart-owned Asda announced it was once again not taking part in Black Friday – for the third year running.

The supermarket has said its customers prefer year-round deals rather than a single day of discounting.

Asda is widely acknowledged to have introduced Black Friday to the UK in 2013 but its stores were scenes of chaos a year later when shoppers fought over cut-price televisions during the event.

Other retailers that have chosen not to participate in Black Friday in the past include Ikea, Marks & Spencer, Homebase and Primark.

OnePoll surveyed 2,000 UK adults in October.