Morrisons leads on Black Friday booze

Morrisons is getting an early start on Black Friday this year with a selection of deals on booze, marking a departure from the usual big ticket items.

The Bradford-based retailer has rolled out Black Five Days this morning, under the tagline ‘Why wait ‘til Friday?’ and is bucking the more usual concentration on big ticket items such as white goods, TVs and gadgets, by focusing more on its grocery offer. As part of the Black Five Days promotion, it is offering a selection of magnums, including Concha Y Toro’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Gallo Family Vineyards White Zinfandel and a 1.5L Prosecco for £10, along with Budvar and Old Speckled Hen 5 litre kegs for £10, packs Serrano ham for £32 and whole lobsters.

It is also priming dedicated “strongmen/ strongwomen” in each of its 492 stores to help customer with purchases as part of its’ ‘Here To Help’ initiative.

The Black Friday offer is running alongside early pre-Christmas deals, including selected wine cases from £27, and a selection of six of its own label wines for £35 for Christmas.

Tesco also launched its Black Friday event this morning, but despite an 11-day bonanza which has more than trebled the amount of items on deal, it is still devoting most of its Black Friday promo to big ticket items on its Tesco Direct site rather than booze or grocery. However it has nonetheless launched a series of pre-Christmas deals on its Wine-by-the-case site, including offering 46% off a case of Valdobbiadene DOCG Prosecco, 45% off Bordeaux, 25% off Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Galets de Saint Louis and 30-35% off Champagnes. It is also offering a third off a “Christmas entertaining” mixed case of 12.

Sainsbury’s also appears to be concentrating on traditional big ticket items and gadgets, however it has rolled out its ‘buy 6, save 25%’ promo dynamic.  Meanwhile, Asda is focusing solely on Christmas this year, introducing a number of roll-backs on booze and other groceries. It has cut the price on selection of American whiskey’s along with a range of spirits and wine brands which are round-priced. It comes two weeks after it launched a deal on Prosecco, offering 6 bottles for £24.

Waitrose is also largely eschewing Black Friday in favour of the holiday period. It is offering up to a third saving on a dozen wines and fizz – as well as 20-25% off a selection of wine. However it has come in for flack from the tabloids after shoppers noted it was cutting the price to clear of £195 bottles of Krug to £165.

Outside the multiples, Virgin Wines is set to launch deals for Black Friday, while Avery’s is concentrating on its 12 days of Christmas offer, which launched today.