Stores are set to cut back on Black Friday discounts this year to avoid another ‘ delivery tsunami ’ . The idea of Black Friday has been imported from America , where retailers offer big discounts to kick start the Christmas shopping season . However , it proved a disaster in Britain last year with long queues and violent scenes which saw the police criticising supermarkets for failing to put in place proper security . The web stores trade body , IMRG , has warned retailers that they will have to fundamentally rethink how they handle Black Friday this year after a catastrophe in 2014 . At the same time , many online stores were simply unable to cope with the rush of orders with the result that a huge delivery backlog was created . Many retailers were also disappointed to find the event merely brought forward sales that would have happened later in December , rather than generating any extra business . The web stores trade body , IMRG , has warned retailers that they will have to fundamentally rethink how they handle Black Friday this year . Significantly , it said : ‘ Black Friday can be very profitable for retailers who get it right , but discount rates will need to be rationalised and panic-discounting avoided. ’ It suggests stores might want to spread the discounts and promotion over a longer period , perhaps a weekend or week , in order to avoid the spike in orders . Firms should also ensure they have sufficient couriers to cope and warn customers that deliveries may take longer than normal , or set up alternative click and collect services . Scenes of violence : Cutomers fought tooth and nail to make the most of discount deals on black Friday . The scale of the event greatly exceeded everyone ’ s expectations . For many the scenes of chaos did n't pay off . Some retailers were disappointed to find the event merely brought forward sales that would have happened later in December , rather than generating any extra business . The IMRG said : ‘ The scale of Black Friday 2014 greatly exceeded everyone ’ s expectations , which meant a large number of online orders were compressed into a far shorter period of time than anticipated – triggering an online retail ‘ delivery tsunami ’ . ‘ This heavily impacted carrier and retailer fulfilment operations and normal activity suffered for days afterwards. ’ Andrew Starkey , head of e-logistics at IMRG , said : ‘ The huge surge in demand on Black Friday 2014 was unprecedented and caught everyone in the industry by surprise . Fevered and bullish behaviour in retail outlets saw the police criticising supermarkets for failing to put in place proper security . ‘ The exact form of it may evolve in 2015 , but at least this time we have a precedent and time to develop strategies to ensure the Christmas peak runs as efficiently as possible . ‘ It ’ s fair to say that Black Friday splits opinion , but the impact of it is so vast that it affects all retailers whether they run campaigns or not . ‘ The key points for industry to address are around how to smooth out the spike – even spreading it over a few days would make a massive difference to fulfilment operations – and managing expectation so that customers receive accurate and up-to-date information about the progress of their orders. ’ Firms should also ensure they have sufficient couriers to cope and warn customers that deliveries may take longer than normal , or set up alternative click and collect services , the IMRG said .
Shops cut back US retail event to avoid customer complaints and confusion . Discounts supposed to kick - off sales caused disaster in the UK . Scenes of violence and disappointment marred retailer 's Black Friday . Rush to sell reduced merchandise online created huge delivery backlog . prices could be managed and crowds tamed for success this year .