Black Friday shows SA’s money battle

It looks as though South Africans treated last week’s Black Friday as well, erm… just another Friday after pay day.

The retail industry badly needed a boost to help remedy a terrible sales year, and in the process hopefully start the spending season ahead of Christmas with a bang.

However, there were no signs of the long queues seen prior to the pandemic, and weekend-long specials – that sometimes even started at the beginning of the month – probably resulted in South Africans spending their hard-earned cash on only the essentials, rather than ambitious purchases.

Also, don’t underestimate the affect the July riots had on businesses, jobs and the economy.

Online shopping – pre- and post-Covid – has also changed the way South Africans shop.

Supply crunches due to the pandemic could also be a factor as out-of-stock items made it so much more frustrating for shoppers.

In the United States, “traffic at retail stores on Black Friday dropped 28.3%, compared with 2019 levels”, according to preliminary data from Sensormatic Solutions.

Last year, Black Friday sales were hugely down in South Africa. Online transactions increased by more than 60%, while physical retailers saw about two million fewer transactions in 2020 than on the same day the prior year.

This year’s figures are expected to show a similar trend. Everyone loves a good deal.

However, South Africans are either getting used to seeing through how Black Friday really works – with many believing the retailers inflate prices before sales – or the more realistic suggestion is that we are simply suffering financially.

People just don’t have the money to splurge. Making ends meet is the main goal, so those new fancy TVs will just have to wait. It’s a sign of the times.