Black Friday spending trends: R1 million deal sets record
Black Friday spending surged over the weekend, with South Africans swiping cards for Cyber Monday.
Image: Freepik
Black Friday spending continued over the weekend, with shoppers swiping cards for Cyber Monday.
However, no-one has yet spent more than the one deal of more than R1 million that went through on Friday.
Payment platform Ecentric was tracking sales today and noted that R372 501 747 had been spent by lunch time, with the largest purchase being worth R243 253.
These purchases had been made through 822 656 transactions.
By the close of business on Friday, South Africans had spent more than R1.1 billion, with the highest value transaction being for R1 million in the travel and tourism sector.
Across two payment platforms – Ecentric Payment Systems and Peach Payments – more than three million cards had been swiped at tills or online by the end of the day.
Retailers across the country were pushing through an average of 2 344 deals every minute on Friday.
IOL research predicts that this year’s Black Friday spend could hit between R146 billion and R153 billion. This final figure will only become known in the days ahead.
Peach Payments indicated that someone spent R1 090 756 in the travel and tourism sector.
Coincidentally, Absa said that the largest deal it had recorded so far was for just over R1 million “at a car rental company”.
Yet, Absa noted that consumers were being cautious.
As anticipated, our data reflects a more cautious yet informed consumer when it comes to spending,” said Andrew Wilmot, executive for Payments Acceptance at Absa Business Banking.
Palesa Ngomeza, director of consumer markets at BDO SA, noted “Black Friday has undergone a remarkable transformation in South Africa”.
Ngomeza added that the “frenzied scenes of shoppers queuing for hours and stampeding through store doors have given way to a more calculated, strategic approach to deal-hunting”.
The day, Ngomeza says, is no longer a longer treated this as a single-day shopping spree, but rather as "Black November”, an extended period for careful planning and research by consumers.
“This year's shopping behaviour reflects a fundamental shift in how South Africans approach Black Friday,” says Ngomeza.
As a result, gone are the days of impulsive splurging.
“Today's consumers are demanding real value and meaningful discounts, not shallow promotional offers.
This transformation has been driven primarily by ongoing economic pressures that have made households increasingly price sensitive,” says Ngomeza.
IOL BUSINESS