Fashion retailers could be in for bumper sales this Black Friday after new figures show the sector’s expected to see the biggest uplift in web traffic this year. 

Compared to last year, estimated traffic for the fashion and clothing sector is set to jump 123% with beauty and personal care also big on consumer purchasing lists, expected to rise 42% on a year ago, according to digital PR agency Tank.

To get its findings, Tank’s ‘Black Friday Readiness Report’ analysed keywords for over 150 retailers from last November to this October to reveal which companies and products are set to dominate search results – “putting them in pole position to generate sales on 29 November”.

And topping the fashion list is M&S, currently set to receive the biggest jump in website traffic compared to last year at 1,456%, followed by Debenhams (295%) and John Lewis (134%).

The report said that M&S “is leading the way with the biggest estimated increase in Black Friday-specific traffic out of all the products and retailers”.

Last year, shoppers spent more than £1 billion online during Black Friday and sales are expected to grow by 27% this year “but in a competitive market, being seen by search engines like Google is critical to generating sales”, it added.

That comes following growing criticism that Google updates are directing more online traffic to news sites with affiliate links, rather than retailers’ pages – potentially disadvantaging even big brands. 

The report also noted that last year retail sales increased £13.3 billion during Black Friday, but that “if retailers aren’t visible in a Google search results page, sales will likely take a hit.

“They may need to increase budgets for Google or social media ads in the short term to increase chances of visibility but this can prove very expensive, especially for smaller retailers”.