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South Africans are waking up to the first Black Friday falling outside of lockdown restrictions in two years.
Retailers have announced their deals far and wide, and shoppers are already planning their purchases around their budgets.
Follow our live blog below for updates. We’ve also included a live tracker of Black Friday spending below.
Keep up to date with just how much South Africans are spending this year on the biggest shopping event of the year.
Banks are anticipating point of sales stats to increase on Friday by around 200% or more.
Managing Executive for Consumer Product in Absa Everyday Banking, Christine Wu, said:
“Following a record 200% increase in e-commerce levels in 2020, and a 231% increase in debit and credit contactless card volumes in 2021, Absa is bracing itself for another intense Black November”.
“Last year, approximately 2.1 million Absa cardholders spent a whopping R1.3 billion on Black Friday marking a 10.71% increase in spend on the day since 2020.”
Customers across the country are already showing interest on social media platforms on spending their money on technological gadgets, such as cellphones and TVs, as well as back-up power equipment such as generators and UPS to mitigate the country’s rolling blackouts.
Not unlike the trend during the start of the pandemic where shoppers went into a frenzy stocking up on toilet paper, this year’s Black Friday specials on the same item seems to also be a hit.
Meanwhile, FNB reckons that a return to popular categories like travel and entertainment this Black Friday is inevitable as customers look to spend time with their families without any restrictions.
“In previous years, we saw spend on digital and technology, groceries and home improvement products lead in popularity due to the changing climate imposed by the pandemic,” said Chris Labuschagne, CEO of FNB Card.
South Africans are being warned though that fraudsters will be in overdrive trying to scam unsuspecting consumers.
Banks have warned that fraudsters will use Black Friday as an opportunity to dupe customers into believing that they are engaging with legitimate organisations with the sole purpose of committing fraud for personal gain.
“Black Friday will present rogue websites or platforms where ‘once in a lifetime’ specials are presented. Always validate the credibility of the website or email offers,” Absa advised.
“Consider the products offered and identify comparative prices for similar goods or services. Assess if the company/party presenting the offer is credible and attempt to validate the company.”
It’s also prudent to search for reviews and possible complaints before parting with your hard-earned money.
Absa says to “consult legitimate parties offering similar products to sense check the offers”.
Lastly, use the ‘Account Verification Service’ to validate the account holder against the party offering the goods or services.
And the final rule of thumb for Black Friday in the face of a sluggish economy: If you don’t really need it, don’t buy it; and if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
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