divdiv class=story-body readability=64 span class=story-date#13; span class=date29 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time11:57 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=1#13; div id=emp-25153346-36864 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71429000/jpg/_71429686_trending.jpg alt=Anti Black Friday message abound on social media websites/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionIn previous years Black Friday has resulted in injuries and deaths in the US/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1A flurry of promotions tied to Black Friday have been causing a frenzy for some UK retailers, with a fight breaking out in one Asda shop apparently over discounted televisions. /p#13; pAsda, owned by the US consumer giant Wal-Mart, has half a million products on offer. /p#13; pa href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25110953US shops traditionally offer big discounts/a on the Friday after the US Thanksgiving holiday./p#13; pThese offers have been increasingly common in the UK in recent years. /p#13; pThe rush to secure the best deal, however, led to one women ending up in hospital. The ambulance service confirmed that it was called to an incident at a west Belfast shopping centre, where a fight had a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25150109broken out at an Asda branch/a. /p#13; !-- Embedding the audio player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=audioInStoryC#13; div id=emp-25156917-36865 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71431000/jpg/_71431019_71431014.jpg alt=Asda/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; #13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- pThe woman was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist after a scene that was described by one onlooker as bedlam. /p#13; pSeveral hundred people had queued outside the shop from 5am for the promotion which started three hours later. /p#13; pThere have also been reports of scuffles inside the Asda Superstore at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol, leading to the arrest of a 35 year old man. /p#13; pAsda said that the safety of its customers was of vital importance, and that it had put in place full security teams and extra colleagues to help assist customers in the aisles./p#13; span class=cross-headBig and small/span#13; pOther, UK-owned companies have also tried to emulate what is the busiest shopping day of the year in the US. /p#13; #13; pJohn Lewis said that it would offer 50% off some electrical items, and 25% off a selection of televisions amongst other promotions. /p#13; pOnline retail giant Amazon is also discounting some of its goods on its UK site. /p#13; pHowever, it is not just the larger chains and department stores that are adopting the opportunity for Black Friday promotions. /p#13; pMaternity brand Isabella Oliver began its Black Friday promotions in the early hours of Friday morning. /p#13; pThe company said that it had seen a 1,200% increase in online traffic by 7am./p#13; span class=cross-headStretching budgets/span#13; p id=story_continues_2Retail consultant Caroline Wilde told the BBC that there was a growing awareness of the day in the UK, although it was likely to be an online phenomenon. /p#13; pIt's very early days for Black Friday, she said, adding that trends do filter through from the US to the UK consumer. /p#13; pWe've had an American style Halloween in the UK now for over a decade. /p#13; pLou Ellerton, a senior consultant at The Value Engineers, said the day would be especially welcome in this current economic climate, as families are looking for anything that will make their cash go further./p#13; pShe said many UK consumers were delaying big purchases in the run up to Christmas to take advantage of these sales promotions. /p#13; span class=cross-headLarge crowds/span#13; pFor the first time this year some US shops opened on Thursday, Thanksgiving itself. /p#13; pThe chief executive of department store chain Macy's said that by 8pm on Thursday there were 15,000 people waiting outside its flagship US shop in New York. /p#13; pIt has been controversial for shops to open on Thanksgiving, with some workers' organisations complaining employees would be denied the opportunity to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. /p#13; #13; pAs shopping on Friday got well underway, many US companies were reporting large crowds. /p#13; pToys R Us chief merchandising operator Richard Barry said that there were healthy crowds outside its stores. /p#13; pIt was very steady overall, good crowds, lots of families shopping together, he said. /p#13; pThe National Retail Federation in the US said that it expected retail sales to be up 4% for the last two months of 2013 on the year before, and analysts expect more big discounting from retailers to lure consumers through shop doors. /p#13; pAnother promotion-driven day on 2 December, dubbed Cyber Monday, will see many discounted goods offered online, as companies attempt to boost pre-Christmas revenues further. /p#13; pLast year, Amazon said that it sold 41 items a second on Cyber Monday. /p#13; pIn the US, the research firm Comscore said consumers spent $1.5bn (£0.9bn) on Cyber Monday, up 20% from 2011./p#13; div class=comment-introduction readability=-49#13; p class=introductionHave you been shopping for a Black Friday bargain? Have you seen or been involved in Black Friday chaos? Send us your story using the form below. /p#13; #13;/div#13; #13;#13;piSend your pictures and videos to byourpics@bbc.co.uk/b or text them to b61124/b (UK) or b+44 7624 800 100/b (International). If you have a large file you can/i a class=inlineText href=http://bbcnewsupload.streamuk.com/upload here/ai./i/p#13;pa href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2780295.stm#yourpicsRead the terms and conditions/a/p#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center

