Cost-of-Living Crisis Casts Shadow Over Europe’s Black Friday

Cost-of-Living Crisis Casts Shadow Over Europe’s Black Friday
People walk past Black Friday signage in shop windows during Black Friday on Oxford Street in London on Nov. 25, 2022. Henry Nicholls/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

LONDON—Europe’s retailers are hoping Black Friday discount day will get shoppers spending, though it is taking place against a backdrop of a worsening cost-of-living crisis and the distraction of the soccer World Cup.

Retailers across Europe fear the overall Christmas trading season could be the worst in at least a decade as shoppers cut back, while the costs of doing business show no sign of abating, squeezing profit margins.