£8bn Black Friday Bargain Bonanza

Lockdown fuelling record sales, crashing store sites

- Ruki Sayid

SHOPPERS sent the internet into a Black Friday meltdown yesterday as they began a record-breaking £8billion spending spree.

Analysts expect £3million a minute to be splurged over this weekend.

The Currys PC World website crashed several times as millions working from home used 2.30pm tea breaks to log on.

The site was blitzed by four orders a second, for tech deals such as an Apple iPad cut by £70 to £399 for one day.

The chain said sales of iPads are up 170% year-on-year, with headphones up 76% and large screen tellies up 68%. Ed Connolly, chief commercial officer, called business “phenomenal”.

The Centre for Retail Research and VoucherCodes predict the four-day sales extravaganza will be nudging £8bn by Cyber Monday. It expects spending to be up by £2bn on the same period last year.