Black Friday UK 2015: John Lewis prepares for biggest deals day yet as Andy Street bids to “win” Christmas for seventh year in a row
John Lewis is pulling all the stops out for Black Friday 2015, which it expects to be bigger than last year, as the department store aims to "win" Christmas again.
Last year, Black Friday pulled in the biggest sales in John Lewis' 150-year history. But managing director Andy Street said this year's Black Friday – which falls on 27 November – would exceed that, as the retailer's "Never Knowingly Undersold" commitment means it matches other high street and online deals.
"Black Friday has turned into our biggest week by a mile, and it will be bigger again this year," he said.
Street said Asda's decision to back out of the deals day was "brave", but wouldn't affect the wider high street involvement – with most stores planning for Black Friday months in advance – or appetite from shoppers.
"It won't change what's going to happen this year," he said.
John Lewis certainly has planned ahead, recruiting an extra 2,000 members of staff to deal with deliveries and investing "tens of millions of pounds" in capacity to get orders out on time.
It's part of Street's master-plan to "win" Christmas for the seventh year in a row.
"John Lewis has won the last six Christmases and outperformed the market every Christmas since the [financial] crash," he said. "This year it's got to be seven out of seven and I'm genuinely confident that the stall is set for us to do exactly that."
Not sure what all the fuss is about Black Friday? Check out the video below for a brief history…