Black Friday is still a relatively new phenomenon in the UK, but that has not stopped it gathering serious momentum in recent years, with analysts now estimating that 2015 will see this promotional bonanza raise £1 billion in sales via safe shopping online, according to NetImperative.

If the £1 billion mark is crossed then this will represent a 17.6 per cent increase in e-commerce activity when compared with Black Friday 2014. And the eDigital report suggests that this is mostly down to the fact that consumers are simply more attuned to the hype surrounding the event, with almost a third of all respondents stating that they are intending to make an online purchase.

Black Friday is scheduled for the 27th of November this year and retailers are already gearing up for it, planning which promotions will be offered. Industry experts are also eager to remind e-commerce operators that unless they take action to ensure that their sites run smoothly on the day, many could crumble under the weight of the traffic they receive, as people struggle to  shop online.

Black Friday is not just a period of frenzied consumer activity online, but also on the high street. And even with £1 billion expected to be spent through e-commerce alone in a single 24 hour period, it is likely to be the crush at bricks and mortar stores which draws the cameras.

In this sense, the event is a self-perpetuating, exponentially increasing promotional machine, with consumer awareness higher than ever and set to climb further, if things go well for retailers in 2015.

Whether this will absorb sales from other major pre-Christmas shopping periods, such as Cyber Monday, remains to be seen. But with UK consumers expected to surpass £1 billion in online sales this Black Friday, it is certainly possible.