One in three families to do all their Christmas shopping on Black Friday

The shopping day was imported to the UK by Amazon in 2010 but has grown in size as more retailers started offering heavy discounts

Thousands of products have already been heavily discounted in the wake of the Brexit vote (Getty)

More than one in three families will do their Christmas shopping this Friday, turning the so-called US Black Friday into the busiest shopping day of the year.

New research shows that millions of shoppers will spend about £1.7 billion online, with millions more spent on the high street.

Microsoft and Retail Week found that one in six shoppers is expected to buy half their Christmas shopping basket on Friday, with three in five shoppers putting prices at the top of their importance list.

The shopping day was imported to the UK by Amazon in 2010 but has grown in size as more retailers started offering heavy discounts.

Last year, Walmart-owned Asda launched its own deals and was swamped with shoppers fighting over discounted televisions. Amazon recorded more than four million sales — a record day in the UK — last Black Friday, while John Lewis has predicted this will be one of its busiest days.

The New West End Company, which represents businesses on London’s busiest shopping streets — Oxford Street, Regent Street and New Bond Street — expect £220 million being spent on the three streets alone.

Friday is also expected to become the busiest online shopping day of the year, with Visa predicting £360,000 spent every minute online with 8.5 million transactions.

Last year online shopping increased 22 per cent and this year it is expected to grow further, with Amazon, John Lewis, Asda, Tesco and Dixons all expecting to join in with discounting.

George MacDonald, executive editor of Retail Week, said: “Retailers need to remain sensitive to pricing in order to succeed and the increased spike in the growth of Black Friday amongst retailers across the UK reflects how incredibly nimble and fast-moving the retail sector is when it comes to meeting the ever-changing demands.”