Black Friday is set to create an additional 210,000 van deliveries even though about 30 per cent of the orders will be click and collect.

A study by BearingPoint suggests that Black Friday will generate more than £1.5 billion in online sales – 12 per cent up on last year.

And, as a result, retailers and their logistics providers will need to cope with a five-fold increase in daily home delivery volumes.

It also warned that some six million orders, worth £300 million would be returned following Black Friday – just a s retailers are gearing up for Christmas orders.

“Black Friday places a huge logistical challenge on retailers, with massive incremental volume peaks on the day itself combining with a returns surge just as retailers are managing the subsequent Christmas peak,” said Stuart Higgins, partner at BearingPoint.

“This could explain why more retailers than ever this year are moving away from Black Friday as a single day event and instead spreading promotional activity over several weeks leading up to Black Friday to smooth demand and costs.”