Black Friday UK 2015: Apps including HotDeals UK, Stocard, Amazon, Ebay and Waze will help find the best bargains on 27 November
Black Friday is almost upon us. But if, come 27 November, you'd rather dodge the crowds and get straight to the bargains, you might need some help.
After all, around one in six Britons are planning to make the most of the deals day to snare a bargain, with one in five of us expecting to snap up goods for at least half the usual retail price. Estimates for the total spent on Black Friday vary from £1bn to £1.9bn – which, if it's the latter, will be double what was spent last year.
All that means there's going to be a lot of people clamouring to get their hands on the best deals available – and there will be plenty of retailers vying for the cash.
These apps should help you cut through the noise and navigate the retail bonanza, whether it lasts 24 hours or a full week.
1) HotDealsUK
This app (and desktop site) has been compiling lists of the best deals available for the past few weeks and has now gone into overdrive, listing everything from top of the range 4K TVs, XBox Ones and other games consoles to Terry's Chocolate Orange. A must-have for the serious bargain-hunters out there.
Price: Free
Star Rating: 4.3
Available on Android and iOS? Yes
2) Stocard
Just because you're already getting a bargain doesn't mean you should be missing out on loyalty points. Stocard acts as a digital wallet for your various loyalty cards, allowing consumers to make even bigger savings during the discount days. Reward cards can be digitised by scanning the barcode with the phone camera and then can be scanned in store as the card would be. The app also shows flyers and coupons so users are up-to-date about the best deals.
Price: Free
Star Rating: 4.5
Available on Android and iOS? Yes
3) Waze
Want to avoid the crowds, chaos and perhaps fisticuffs this Black Friday? Waze can help you plan your journey. The community app pulls together real-time traffic data to help you outsmart jams, roadworks and accidents to find the best route to the shops. It also crowd-sources petrol prices, so you can find the cheapest garage to fill up.
Price: Free
Star Rating: 4.6
Available on Android and iOS? Yes
4) EBay and Amazon Shopping
Why bother leaving the comfort of your own home to slug it out in stores when you shop when you've already dropped? Old familiars EBay and Amazon have been quick off the blocks, with both offering a host of deals including offers on TVs, games consoles and laptops. The same goes for other big players like John Lewis, Very.co.uk and House of Fraser.
Price: Both free
Star Rating: Both at 4.2
Available on Android and iOS? Of course
5) Black Friday Ads 2015 deals
A lot of the Black Friday-specific apps are tailored towards the (much bigger) US market, but this app offers deal alerts for UK retailers across a wide category. It claims to pull together "almost all popular Black Friday deals and ads" in one place, with particular focus on electricals, and will be updated in the run-up to the big day.
Price: Free
Star Rating: 4
Available on Android and iOS? Yes
You can find all the latest deals, news and opinion on Black Friday here, including Amazon UK, Currys PC Worldand Ebay. But don't expect to find Asda among them this year, the supermarket has set a precedent and pulled out of the sales bonanza