In the past week, online retailers have upped their number of offers on home improvement products by 38%, as well as slashing prices on thousands of home products much sooner than would be expected in the run up to Black Friday.

Prices of home improvement items currently on offer by retailers have dropped by 26% in the past week, meaning some product categories are currently the cheapest they’ve been all year.

For example, the prices of saws dropped by 38% last week. The lowest price in 2017 was recorded on March 15, meaning it is an unseasonal time for prices to be at their lowest in 2018.

Meanwhile, prices of dining tables fell by 46% to the cheapest they’ve been in 2018. The lowest prices recorded for this category last year was on Black Friday (November 24, 2017)

Shelves are also currently being sold at the cheapest price recorded this year, with a 28% price drop seen last week. The lowest price they reached in 2017 was 6th July.

It is believed the early Black Friday-style heavy discounting by retailers online is in response to footfall declines recorded in September and increasing competition in the market. Concerns over Brexit and the impact any deal will have on consumer spending over the festive period could be another contributing factor, with reports showing a slowdown in recent months.

The price drops have been revealed in data supplied by retail sales aggregator LovetheSales.com, which tracks the prices and discounts from over 900 retailers across 5 million products

Other categories recording price decreases in the past week, include drills, down 15%; lamps, down 23%; washing machines, down 15%; mirrors, down 22%; curtains, down 27%; and coffee tables, down 16%

Retail analyst and LovetheSales.com founder, Stuart McClure commented: “In the last week, we’ve seen some big reductions in prices across retail, especially in the home improvement market. We’ve also seen uncharacteristic trends around product categories being at their cheapest in the year. This all points to retailers being concerned about performance over the peak holiday season.”