No crowds but online surge on Britain's 'Black Friday'

Frenzied crowds failed to materialise at shops in Britain for "Black Friday" sales, but analysts expected record online purchases amid signs that customers were rushing to the Internet instead.
Last year saw scuffles over bargains -- scenes that are common in the United States, where the marketing tradition began, where customers queue hours before opening times to get first pick of the deals.
But this time around high streets around Britain were relatively quiet and there were indications that shoppers looking for bargains preferred the Internet.
"Either nobody's paying any attention to all the Black Friday marketing that has been going on, or they're all just shopping online," said Nick Jones of analysts Experian Marketing Services.

Experian has predicted online sales in Britain to exceed USD 1.5 billion for the first time ever today.
Bryan Roberts of analysts Kantar Retail said Black Friday appeared to be "something of a damp squib".

A handful of people waited outside the flagship Oxford Street department stores of John Lewis and Debenhams, which opened early and laid on 400 extra staff to deal with the expected rush.
A few shoppers arrived early, such as Kevin Regan, a construction manager from Enfield, who came two hours before John Lewis opened in the hope of finding a discounted laptop.
"It's my first time doing it, I hope they do it more often," he said as he waited for the doors to open in front of rows of signs advertising the sales.

When security opened the doors the dozen people waiting filed in to quietly browse the stacks of discounted goods, outnumbered by armies of staff and journalists.
In contrast, online retailers saw heavy demand, with very.Co.Uk reporting a surge in traffic at 0700 GMT when hourly deals began, Tesco warning that purchases would take longer to deliver due to demand, and the Argos website straining under the pressure.
"Sorry for the delay. Demand for this part of the site is really high," read a message on Argos.