Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

Business Maverick

Business Maverick, South Africa

Black Friday bonanza — South Africans spend more than R30-billion, on everything from takeaways to lottery tickets

Black Friday bonanza — South Africans spend more than R30-billion, on everything from takeaways to lottery tickets
Consumers shop for Black Friday specials at the Canal Walk Shopping Centre on 23 November 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Esa Alexander)
Neesa Moodley and Lisakanya Venna
By Neesa Moodley and Lisakanya Venna
8 Dec 2024
Facebook
3
South Africa’s Black Friday 2024 shattered expectations with just three banks reporting more than R30-billion spent. Supermarkets led spending, while beauty and electronics boomed online.

Although the latest FNB/Bureau for Economic Research Consumer Confidence Index has slipped one point since the fourth quarter, the reading of  –6 is the highest festive season number since before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. The upsurge in consumer sentiment since the end of 2023 points to a pronounced increase in consumers’ willingness  to spend compared to last year’s peak trading period.

“Consumers’ ability to spend has also improved notably, bolstered by lower inflation, 50-basis points of interest rate cuts and an estimated R40-billion in the two-pot retirement system payouts in 2024. The combination of much-improved willingness and ability to spend – particularly among affluent consumers, the group with the greatest spending power – suggests that retail tills will jingle much louder this festive season,” FNB chief economist Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya said. 

And spend consumers have, as Black Friday statistics clearly show. 

Capitec customers shot the lights out, splashing R25.4-billion on shopping, fast food and essentials such as pharmacy items. The bank reports that it processed 13,666 Shein transactions, more than 52,000 Takealot orders and more than 560,000 lottery ticket purchases among other transactions. 

Standout Nedbank-facilitated transactions on Black Friday included a corporate purchase of almost R5-million (R4,995,760) across five transactions and a consumer who spent R1,283,424 across six transactions. 

The single-highest individual transactions were for R3,328,422 by a corporate client and R551,128 for an individual, both using American Express cards. The highest number of transactions completed by an individual Nedbank customer on Black Friday was 79, outpaced by 273 transactions made by a corporate client.

Privesan Naidoo, executive: trading products at Nedbank, said restaurants, wholesale stores and the healthcare industry recorded the highest year-on-year growth in spend, while travel and tour operators experienced the largest decline. Unsurprisingly, supermarkets accounted for the largest share of spend, followed by Game Stores and Takealot. Notably, Clicks, Checkers and Woolworths achieved the most significant year-on-year growth.

Read more: Black Friday 2024: South African consumers gear up for record sales amid economic challenges

Capitec says the Black Friday weekend saw several significant purchases, with the largest single-card purchases made in the following essential categories:


  • Grocery store: R287,535.82;

  • Home improvements & hardware: R 245,590.38; and

  • Clothing and fashion store: R 53,980.69.


Online spending up


First Thursdays statistics This year’s Black Friday statistics indicate that consumers prefer digital payment platforms, with 84% of transactions completed via card. Mobile commerce continued to grow, with a 5% increase in purchases completed on mobile phones compared to the previous year. (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)



Several trends emerged from the data, highlighting shifts in consumer behavior. Notably, online shopping saw a significant boost, with a 14% increase in the number of customers transacting online. Alternative payment methods gained traction, with a 59% year-on-year increase in customer spend via FNB virtual cards. 

There is also a clear preference for digital payment platforms, with 84% of transactions completed via card. Mobile commerce continued to grow, with a 5% increase in purchases completed on mobile phones compared to the previous year.

FNB customers, in particular, broke previous spending records, with more than R3.2-billion spent on Black Friday purchases. Black Friday spending increased by 11% year-on-year, with transactions worth more than R5.4-billion processed on FNB Speedpoint devices at retailers.

The bank reports an upward shift in virtual card usage, with a 59% year-on-year increase in customer spend on Black Friday. 

Senzo Nsibande, chief executive of FNB Card, noted that: “The uptick in transactional activity seen throughout the month affirms the improved economic landscape and sustained recovery in consumer income compared to previous years. This year we saw strong volumes and value spent over this time despite the slow start on Friday morning. As expected, the most popular spend categories included groceries, clothing and entertainment. The most growth was seen in the travel category with 15.4% and clothing with 11.4% compared to last year.”

This trend of increased online spending was also observed by Absa, which reported a 25% year-on-year increase in e-commerce transactions among its cardholders over the Black Friday weekend. Chris Wood, managing executive for product at Absa Relationship Banking, noted that consumers are increasingly embracing the convenience of online shopping.

However, when analysing e-commerce transactions more broadly, online spending was not as strong as initially anticipated, possibly caused by businesses’ spreading their specials throughout November as well as increased competition in the online space. 

BankservAfrica, which provides a view of interbank transactions processed on behalf of banks, said in-store card transactions were up 24% on the previous day and increased by 10% on an annual basis. Solly Bellingan, head of marketing at BankservAfrica, said the 3D-Secure online card authentication service showed overall online shopping volumes were up by 27% on the previous day and 6% higher compared to Black Friday 2023. 

Timeline for ringing tills 


Black Friday Consumers queue to pay for their Black Friday specials at the Canal Walk Shopping Centre, Cape Town, on 23 November 2018. (Photo: Esa Alexander / Sunday Times / Gallo Images)



BankservAfrica also provided this summary of timeline trends: 

  • Midnight deal hunting started slow but gained momentum in the morning: Shoppers kicked off their Black Friday deal hunting at midnight with volumes up by 75% compared to the same time on Thursday, but 11% down from Black Friday 2023. Activity ramped up from 6am, and by 10am, volumes were 79% higher than the same time on Thursday. Online activity peaked between 9am and 10am;

  • All-day appeal of online deals:. Throughout the day, online shopping momentum held high. By late afternoon, at 5pm, 3D Secure card-not-present volumes were still holding strong with a 78% increase on Thursday and a steady year-on-year growth of 4%, having a slight edge over 2023 levels; and

  • The final push to the end: “The rush to get the last-minute Black Friday deals was evident in our tracking. Just before the clock struck midnight – at 11pm – our (transaction) volumes were 75% up compared to Thursday, but 8% down compared to Black Friday 2023,” Bellingan said. DM

Categories:

Tags: