Black Friday spending: 23 million clients at one bank spent R25.45 billion

Although South Africans have very little money to spare as they battle the cost-of-living crisis and high debt levels, 23 million clients at just one bank spent R25.45 billion on Black Friday.

Capitec saw 23 million of its clients spending R25.45 billion this Black Friday and Saturday, an increase of 27% compared to last year. The money is enough to buy more than 7.2 million tickets to the Springboks vs All Blacks game at DHL Stadium during the 2024 Rugby Championship and fill it 132 times over.

The bank’s clients logged into the Capitec app 27 million times on Black Friday alone, an increase of 51% from last year, while cash withdrawals grew by 15% and card payments increased by 21%, with online card transactions increasing more than 38%.

Capitec clients spent R1.98 billion at major grocery retailers, equivalent to over 99 million loaves of bread. The largest single-card purchases were R287 535.82 at a grocery store, R245 590.38 for home improvements and hardware and R53 980.69 at a clothing store.

Consumers bought essentials on Black Friday

Francois Viviers, group executive for marketing and communications at Capitec, says the bank’s transaction data shows that South Africans’ Black Friday shopping extended over the weekend.

“We saw a growing focus on shopping for essentials rather than luxury items. Considering our client base that covers a third of our country’s population, this behaviour reflects a broader national trend of wiser and more strategic financial decisions.”

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Viviers says grocery retailers collectively recorded R1.98 billion in spending, with Shoprite maintaining its position as the leading retailer, processing 892 408 Capitec Card payments and Clicks emerging as the dominant pharmacy retailer, with more than 304 000 payments.

Takealot was in the lead for online stores, with more than 52 000 orders, while Shein established itself as the preferred online fashion destination with 13 666 transactions. Uber dominated ride-hailing services, facilitating 154 365 rides, while lottery purchases increased significantly with over 560 000 tickets bought across the two days.

In addition, Capitec clients spent R93 million at popular fast food and restaurant outlets, particularly KFC and McDonald’s, equal to 2.3 million Streetwise Two meals or 1.79 million Big Macs. The total spend for Mr D and Uber Eats over the Black Friday weekend was R27.79 million, with Mr D dominating the category.

Digital platforms, such as Hollywoodbets, takealot.com and Bash recorded R284 million worth of transactions.

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Someone spent R1.7 million in 21 transactions

During Black Friday week, the biggest spender at Ozow, a payment solution provider that lets you pay through a direct EFT at online stores, was someone who forked out R1.7 million in 21 transactions last Tuesday at various online stores.

Thomas Pays, CEO of Ozow, says its payments shattered records during Black Friday, with overall processing value for November surging by 40% above the previous year.

Notable highlights from this year’s Black Friday period on Ozow include someone who paid R472 150 cash for a car, while the single consumer who concluded the most transactions was someone who entered into 829 transactions.

“The Black Friday event itself saw a 13% increase in processing value from 2023, demonstrating remarkable growth in digital payment adoption across South Africa.”

Pays says transaction patterns revealed sustained consumer activity throughout Black Friday, with peak processing values occurring during the morning hours and the highest transaction volumes in the evening. The platform successfully handled more than 1 897 999 transactions, a 105% increase on the previous year, with an average transaction speed between 24-28 seconds.

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113% increase in spending on leisure and entertainment

According to payment gateway Peach Payments, the leisure and entertainment industry grew its share of online sales over the four-day Black Friday weekend by 113% from last year, against the backdrop of a 38% overall growth in rand value processed via its platform in November compared to the same month in 2023 and a 37% increase over just the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend compared to 2023.

Rahul Jain, CEO and cofounder of Peach Payments, says this is in line with the trend over the last few years of the whole of November being treated as Black Friday Month, with deals offered by merchants across the board.

“Despite the economic pressures, the sheer volume of online payments South Africa’s economy supports is impressive. Over the four-day weekend we processed more than 1.4 million transactions, to a total value of more than R1.19 billion.”

The largest individual transaction Peach Payments processed over the weekend was for R441 000 in the travel and tourism industry.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments processed by Peach Payments over the weekend grew by 198% in rand value from 2023. ApplePay also showed a sharp increase of 4 910% growth in rand value year-on-year.

“This Black Friday was a good day for the ecommerce industry as a whole in a tough year and we have surpassed expectations,” Jain says.