Black Friday and Christmas shopping will no doubt be affected by the coronavirus restrictions, the yearly bustle to get festive shopping done, would contradict the precautions we have had to follow this year.

The annual event, and biggest sale season of the year, is originally an American tradition that takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The following Monday is known as ‘Cyber Monday’, where online sales take place. This year Black Friday will be on 27th November, and Cyber Monday will take place on the 30th November.

However this year, many retailers have reportedly chosen to extend the sales throughout November in an attempt to deter crowds of shoppers desperate for a deal. This comes as fears of many local businesses yet again missing out on custom to huge online retailers such as Amazon.

One of our local followers, Sally Wilkinson Acton commented: “I think if non essential businesses are forced to close, it’s only right that online shops like Amazon should also be forced to close. Why should a multi billion pound corporation like them profiteer out of this situation whilst smaller self employed business go bankrupt? Or even better, why can’t businesses like Amazon use the additional profits they’ve made out of this to help the less fortunate?”

This was after news that the English Government are considering following in the footsteps of Scotland and introducing a 4th tier, closing non-essential shops by mid-November if covid cases do not start to fall.

The fear is that many businesses who rely on footfall rather than online purchases, especially during Black Friday sales which bring a lot of custom through their doors, will become obsolete and be forced to close for good. Restrictions set out by the government may push shoppers to buy solely online as they hunt for bargains in the safety of their own home, rather than wait in line to enter shops who try to limit the number of people on the premises.

Local businesses desperately urge residents to shop locally and support businesses in Lytham St Annes and the Fylde Coast. It is more important than ever that we support the community rather than the ‘big boys’ such as Amazon and Argos.