What You need to know about Black Friday 2016

Black Friday has taken over our retail calendar as the most important shopping date of the year, surpassing Boxing Day and Christmas Eve.

Having trickled into the UK shopping scene from the US, our first major taste of Black Friday was in 2014, which led to physical fights and shops having to employ extra security staff to keep the customers from coming to blows.

As certain as the sun will rise and the rain will fall, Black Friday is back for another year, and it's gathering momentum. Here is what you need to know.

When is it?
This year, the event is being held on Friday, November 25 from midnight for online shoppers, with most retailers opening from 6am. Many deals will go online as soon as the store sales kick off, but some can be snapped up on certain websites a few days before Black Friday.

Where is it?
As 2014 saw the shops filled to the brim with eager buyers, last year the situation shifted and the high streets were much quieter as shoppers decided to sit at home and shop online instead. Websites crashed all over the world, and records such as 30 TVs selling per minute were achieved. Although Black Friday is now mainly an online event, shops will still opening with exclusive in-store deals, so keep your eyes peeled on social media.

Many customer have taken to online shopping after previous queues and panic in stores.
What is it?
Originally an American tradition, Black Friday occurs on the day after Thanksgiving each year. Retailers offer massive discounts on a mass of products in the run-up to Christmas, as expensive gadgets and technological items drop tremendously in price.

It is believed to be called Black Friday because many shops see the biggest profits of the year on the day, so they detail their gains in black ink rather than having losses in red ink, but there are other theories.

Which retailers are taking part?
High street brands including Amazon, Currys and John Lewis have already confirmed that they will be participating in Black Friday, but it's worth pointing out that researching ahead of time will help you spot the true bargains. However, some stores including Asda refused to take part last year.

This year, Braun has teased that Argos, Amazon and Boots will have up to half price reductions across the brand's grooming tech, hair straighteners and beauty electrical items. There have also been rumours of 2016 being the year of the cheap travel deal, with some Ryanair tickets going for as little as £2.50, and Eurostar also gearing up to offer some mega deals on its journeys.

What is new this year?
With websites on high alert to cope with the amount of online shoppers and extra security being brought into stores nationwide, it is anticipated this year will see more customers than ever buying goods from their smartphones. This means that while websites are unlikely to crash, apps and mobile networks will not have dealt with the volume of shoppers seen in previous years, meaning they could be more likely to crash.

Consumers will also be able to use Click & Collect for many of their items, meaning instead of all their deliveries landing on their doorstep – then missing them and having to stand in the Post Office queue for an hour – they can choose a designated drop-off venue in the city for them to collect their purchases when possible