Amazon UK reports busiest day ever on Black Friday

Amazon.co.uk celebrated its busiest ever day, saying Black Friday had "surpassed all expectations".

The online retailer recorded orders for more than 5.5 million goods, with around 64 items sold per second.

Retailers are hoping for further strong sales over the weekend after the excitement of Black Friday saw crowds of thousands descend on stores.

Last year’s Black Friday was also a record day for Amazon, when it sold more than four million items.

But the record was surpassed on Cyber Monday 2013, when more than 4.1 million items were ordered at a rate of around 47 purchases per second.

The retailer hopes to repeat its success this coming Monday by releasing new offers every 10 minutes.

Vice President of EU Retail at Amazon, Xavier Garambois, said: “Ever since we introduced Black Friday to the UK in 2010, sales have increased year on year but this year really has surpassed all of our expectations.

“The public’s appetite for Black Friday has been bigger than ever, kicking off the Christmas shopping period in earnest and establishing Black Friday as a fixture on the UK Christmas shopping calendar.”