Traffic congestion fell sharply over the Black Friday weekend as millions of shoppers eschewed braving the cold in favour of online bargain-hunting instead.
Data from traffic analyst INRIX showed that the huge spikes in traffic predicted by previous reports during the beginning of the Christmas shopping season simply failed to materialise.
Last week, it was claimed that the Black Friday weekend would see an average of a 35 per cent increase in traffic across Britain when compared with a regular term-time weekend.
However, congestion levels actually dropped by 18 per cent on the Saturday and by 14 per cent on Sunday, with a far fewer number of cars on the road compared to last year’s Black Friday weekend.
At the same time, figures show that online retail spending over the weekend rose by a significant 32 per cent, showing that increasing numbers of people are choosing to stay at home to shop.
In areas surrounding the biggest shopping centres in the UK, traffic has decreased by around 30 per cent year-on-year, according to INRIX’s statistics.
Last year’s worst-hit areas for congestion hotspots included Bicester village and parts of Milton Keynes, with both areas showing more than double the average amount of traffic.
