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Asda Black Friday 2016: will it be offering deals?

Black Friday
Black Friday



Asda famously brought Black Fridaysales to the UK in 2013, and then publicly abandoned the whole thing two years later, announcing that it was going to focus on good deals all year round instead of Black Friday. So will it stick with this line this year, or will the need to compete for customers prove too much to resist?

Asda's US owner, Walmart, was behind the decision to import Black Friday in 2013. That year it was one of only a handful of UK companies offering huge discounts, and it proved an enormous success.

A year later, however, the plan backfired. The doors opened to enormous crowds of people, racing to grab a massively discounted 40 inch TV, and prepared to use a certain amount of force to get one. As photos of the scenes of chaos circulated, the company realised that bringing doorbuster to the UK hadn't been a complete success.

In 2015, therefore, it announced that it wouldn't be taking part, and would invest in deals throughout the year instead. If it does the same again this year, it means that instead of a single day of bargains, it will be worth keeping your eyes peeled throughout November and December for savings within certain departments. At the moment, for example, it's running a huge toy sale - offering up to 50% off.

The fact that this sale has already launched is a reasonable indication that this year it will stick to the same tactic as 2015, in which case you will need to keep your eyes peeled for sales in the departments you're interested in over the next few weeks.

However, there's also a small chance it will find another solution. Black Friday saw incredible sums of money change hands last year, and the other UK supermarkets managed to take part without incident. This year Tesco has already pledged an enormous number of deals - launching on 21st November. In an incredibly competitive supermarket price war, there remains a slightly forlorn hope that Asda will decide it cannot afford to lose these customers, and run some discounts on the day.