Insight: Three quarters of Brits shopped Black Friday/Cyber Monday on work time – Protect your Bubble

While many retailers across the UK enjoyed a bumper Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, thousands of businesses may have suffered a drop in productivity as workers, keen not to miss out on a deal bonanza, shopped online while at their desks.

A poll of more than 1,000 bargain-hungry shoppers, conducted by specialist gadget insurer Protect Your Bubble, found that almost three-quarters (75%) admitted shopping for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals while at work.
Almost a quarter (22%) of respondents confessed they were surfing for deals on their computers for at least four hours across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when they should have been working.

Staff productivity may also have been affected by the impact the sales had on their general mood. Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers who were polled said they were left frustrated and stressed by the entire shopping experience.
More than a third (37%) of respondents felt frustrated, with 41% saying the deals weren’t as good as they hoped, 34% saying they felt frustrated because they missed out on deals, while a third (33%) said they were left frustrated because products they wanted weren’t discounted.

While a third of Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers felt stressed at the end of the sales because they had spent too much. Although only15% of those polled actually regretted how much they spent.

Sales figures
Bargain-hunters spent on average, £230 on Black Friday and £217 on Cyber Monday. Men (£265) spent on average 36% more on Black Friday than women (£195). However, the tables were turned on Cyber Monday, with women (£248) spending 33% more online than men(£186). Londoners spent on average £319 on Black Friday compared to £96 by shoppers in the North East.

The most popular categories across Black Friday and Cyber Monday were; white goods (64%), home and furniture (57%), health and beauty (48%), tech (44%) and fashion (33%).

This year, more than half (52%) of Black Friday shoppers only shopped online, 20% only shopped in-store and 28% shopped online and in-store. A third of consumers (33%) who participated in the sales admitted that almost a third of their purchases were impulse buys. While, around 9% confessed that all their purchases were impulsive.

James Brown, director of gadget insurance provider Protect Your Bubble comments: “Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are over for another year and many people are probably wishing they had reigned in their spending a little. But it was hard not to overspend when there were so many tempting deals around.
“And being at work doesn’t seem to have stopped the most ardent bargain-hunting shoppers, with thousands of employees risking the wrath of their bosses to bag some great deals.

“Tech devices were some of the most sought-after items on sale over the Black Friday weekend. If you picked up gadget at a great discount, don’t forget to get it insured. There’s little point in saving hundreds of pounds in the sales, if a week later you drop it and have to shell out the full retail price to get a replacement.”