Black Friday marked the formal start of the holiday shopping season in South Africa, which continued over the weekend and into Cyber Monday.
The major banks in the nation have reported higher spending.
According to First National Bank (FNB), more over R3 billion worth of purchases were made by consumers on Black Friday.
According to Standard Bank South Africa, client transactions on Black Friday rose by approximately 19% from the prior year, above the 15% rise seen in 2021.
“Nedbank acquiring volumes on Black Friday itself grew by a remarkable 38% from the levels we observed in 2021,” stated Privesan Naidoo, Executive: Trading Products at Nedbank.
Naidoo said that Black Friday weekend 2022 will help further solidify South African customers’ transition to online shopping and digital payments.
He says: “Our data shows a significant year-over-year rise of 88% in online transactions on Black Friday, with the growth in physical purchases rose by 30% on Black Friday.”
According to FNB, this year’s Black Friday sales were the largest the bank has recorded in the previous four years.
According to FNB, more than R2.4 billion was spent in-store (card present), whereas more than R670 million was spent online (card not present).
The amount of purchases made using FNB Virtual Cards increased significantly as well, the bank reported, totaling over R137 million compared to just R36 million for Black Friday 2021, a 280% increase.
“A large number of people were always going to take advantage of Black Friday offers in a market where consumers are experiencing a rise in the cost of living. The most common expenditure categories—travel and transportation, food, apparel, and entertainment—saw a strong comeback, as was expected. Given that many consumers were prevented from traveling in recent years by international travel restrictions, the rise in travel is very heartening. It also bodes well for the South African economy as the holiday season draws near “the CEO of FNB Card, Chris Labuschagne, adds.
According to Standard Bank’s analysis of transaction data from the previous weekend, consumers took advantage of Black Friday discounts and undertook a significant transition to digital and contactless payments.
The largest card issuer in South Africa, Standard Bank, said that over the Black Friday weekend, transaction volumes for both contactless and cards not present increased by double digits, continuing the upward trend in digital payments sparked by the effects of Covid-19 limitations.
Customers who touch their cards at a point of sale to make contactless payments have experienced a rise in use of more than 31% over the previous Black Friday weekend, exceeding the 25% growth the previous year.
Customers are beginning to see the value that digital payments provide, according to Ethel Nyembe, Standard Bank’s Head of Group Card. The tremendous growth patterns we are witnessing in online and contactless payments are mostly due to ease and safety.
When compared to the previous year, Standard Bank observed a 20% rise in the volume of transactions executed over the weekend and a 22.5% increase in the average transaction value.
Over the weekend, there were 8.6 million transactions performed in total.
Customers have been quite picky this year, according to Nyembe. Since consumers are now much more selective and careful when taking on debt due to prior economic shock cycles and the high interest rate environment, the economy has continued to develop at a slow pace. As we move through Black Friday weekend and into the holiday shopping season, we continue to encourage shoppers to purchase wisely
Real time payments (RTC) surged at Nedbank by more than 100% this year despite the notable rise in transaction volumes and values.
