Although 'Black Friday' – the Friday following Thanksgiving Day – is predominantly a US phenomenon, it seems that the UK is now starting its Christmas shopping at around the same time. The nickname refers to shops becoming uncomfortably busy and, in recent years, has been followed by a similar increase in online shopping on 'Cyber Monday'.
Internet browser company Novarra looked at mobile web traffic this year, discovering that it was up significantly on both days. Average page views via mobile for US retailers were up 388% on Black Friday and 160% on Cyber Monday. In the UK, page views were up 40% on Friday and 23% on Monday. Top destinations in the USA were bestbuy.com (up 792%) and walmart.com (up 740%), with argos.co.uk standing out in the UK with a 395% increase.