Retail sales: SA consumers spent a whopping R139 billion on Black Friday

South African consumers spent R139 billion on Black Friday, R12.2 billion more than the previous year, on items such as clothing and shoes, cleaning products, appliances, and furniture, increasing retail sales spending.

Statistics SA announced the retail sales for November on Tuesday and said retail trade sales increased by 7.7% in November 2024. General dealers scored the most as the largest positive contributors to this increase with 11.9% and contributed 5.2 percentage points.

Retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear, and leather goods also laughed all the way to the bank with an increase in sales of 9.5%, contributing 1.7 percentage points, as well as retailers in household furniture, appliances, and equipment with an increase of 9.4%, contributing 0.5 of a percentage point.

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Only hardware stores were disappointed

The only negative contributor was retailers in hardware, paint, and glass, where the sales decreased by 4,3%, shaving off 0.4 of a percentage point.

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 0.8% in November compared to October after month-on-month changes of a 1.6% increase in October 2024 and a a -0.4% decrease in September.

According to Statistics SA, retail trade sales increased by 5.1% in the three months ending in November 2024 compared to the same months in 2023. The largest contributors to this increase were general dealers (9,4%), retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment (12.1%) and retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (2,9%).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1.4% in the three months ending in November compared to the previous three months. The largest positive contributor to this increase was again general dealers (3,4%).

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Retail sales surpassed expectations

Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, senior economist at FNB, says after a solid 6.2% increase in retail sales in October, retail sales accelerated further to a robust 7.7% growth in November, significantly outpacing the Reuters consensus expectation for a 5.5% increase.

“Excluding the disruptions caused by Covid-19 and the July 2021 riots to the data, this marks the strongest print in approximately 14 years (since June 2010). On a month-on-month basis, volumes increased by 0.8%, albeit down from a 1.6% increase in September.

“These numbers bode well for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth quarter and reflect consumer spending benefits from the two-pot system pension withdrawals, the declining inflation trajectory, particularly fuel costs, as well as improved consumer sentiment.”

Mkhwanazi points out that the uptick in shopping activity in November was broad-based across most retailers, led by general dealers with an impressive 11.9% increase, followed by clothing and footwear as well as household furniture sales.

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Retail sales at highest level since 2019

Sales of food and beverages increased by 3.8%, and pharmaceuticals by 3.7%. All other retailers increased by 0.7%. In contrast, hardware retailers recorded a further decline of 4.3%.

“Year-to-date, retail sales increased by 2.4% compared to the same period last year, the highest level since 2019. This reflects a gradual improvement in the consumer environment.

“We expect this momentum to continue into 2025, supported by a recovery in household incomes, as wages accelerate and inflation abates, lower borrowing costs, improved domestic political risk, and consumer sentiment.

“These factors should contribute to stronger asset prices, bolstering consumer balance sheets and further supporting retail sales growth.”