Nearly half plan Black Friday cutbacks: time to check phone speed

Shoppers say they will spend less

Nearly half of British shoppers plan to cut back on Black Friday spending this year, according to research by cloud communications company Sinch, shared exclusively with Retail Week. That is a consumer survey run by a third party. It tells us what people say they intend to do, and real behaviour on the day can differ.

For retailers, the obvious question is what to do about it. Discounts are one answer. Another answer is more practical. People buying fewer things usually want each purchase to be the right one. They open several tabs, compare prices and delivery, and close the pages that keep them waiting.

Interest in the event itself is still clear. "Black friday 2025" was the most-searched term in the UK among the Black Friday terms measured, at 1.22× the next term, "black friday", according to Sayu's study of Black Friday searches. That compares a fixed set of search terms with each other. It shows what people looked for, which is a different thing from what they bought.

The same study notes that online accounted for 28.3% of UK retail sales in September 2026, up from 27.3% in September 2025, according to ONS figures. Monthly ONS estimates can be revised, but the direction is useful context. More of the shopping that does happen is taking place on a screen.

Speed on a phone is where comparison shoppers drop off

Google measures how real visitors experience websites through its Core Web Vitals. These cover three things: how fast the main content loads, whether the page jumps about while it loads, and how quickly buttons respond when tapped.

In September 2026, 70% of the 491,119 websites UK Chrome users visited on phones passed Google's Core Web Vitals (343,952 sites), according to Sayu's study of popular .uk home pages. The rest were too slow to load, too jumpy or too slow to respond for at least a quarter of visits. This data only covers Chrome users and sites with enough visits for Google to measure, so it gives a broad picture rather than a verdict on any single shop.

For a shopper comparing three retailers side by side, those three problems are exactly what makes a tab get closed. A price that loads late, a "Buy now" button that shifts as an image appears, or a basket button that seems to ignore the first tap all give a careful buyer a reason to pick the other tab.

What this means for UK businesses

• Plan for comparison. If shoppers are spending less, expect each one to look at more sites before buying. Your product and checkout pages need to load quickly and clearly on a phone.
• Check the three basics. Loading speed, pages jumping about as they load, and how fast buttons respond to taps. These are what Google measures and what shoppers feel.
• Test your busiest pages. Your home page matters less than the product, basket and checkout pages your Black Friday traffic will land on.
• Hold off on heavy extras. New pop-ups, video banners and tracking scripts added just before a sale can slow pages down at the worst moment.

Analysis compiled by Sayu (sayu.co.uk), using third-party research from Sinch as reported by Retail Week, alongside Sayu's published studies.