Shoppers and businesses in the UK have been cashing in on Black Friday sales, even as concerns over a new variant of COVID-19 grow in Europe.
The shopping event, which started in the U.S., has become a global phenomenon. Retailers on London’s Oxford Street were among those taking part in the sales this year.
Tens of thousands of people turned out on the world-famous shopping street on Friday, with little social distancing or mask-wearing in many places. In England, most legal limits designed to tackle the coronavirus were scrapped in July.
Financial transactions reflected the shopping surge. Payments via Barclaycard were up 21.4 percent between midnight and 9 a.m. compared with the same period in 2020. High street bank Nationwide reported its customers had made 1.3 million purchases by 9 a.m., a 24 percent rise year-on-year.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
