PayU GPO, an online payment service provider operating in over 50 emerging markets, has released new data on Black Friday’s significant impact on the African eCommerce landscape. As consumers grapple with rising inflation and a higher cost of living, the discount event has proved even more popular than in 2023.
Total eCommerce purchase activity increased by 130 per cent in South Africa compared to the average Friday in 2024, demonstrating strong consumer appetite for the time-sensitive deals offered on Black Friday.
In comparison to Black Friday 2023, total transaction value increased by 14 per cent, demonstrating that consumer interest in the eCommerce event continues to grow.
The average basket size this year increased by 5 per cent year-on-year, averaging R1946.
Black Friday is a particularly significant event for the beauty industry and 2024 was no exception. A frenzy of purchasing activity led to the number of eCommerce sales in this sector being 125 per cent higher than the average Friday this year. While the peak was on Black Friday itself, many retailers extended Black Friday deals to cover the whole week.
The lion’s share of Black Friday spend went towards electronics (40 per cent); with travel and tourism (30 per cent) and fashion (14 per cent) following closely. Travel and tourism saw larger total purchase values this year, with higher than average spending in the R200 000 – R 400 000 range.
Sales of electronics aligned with the cost of living and inflation being a driving factor in Black Friday shopping. While the number of transactions in this vertical was significantly higher than last year, showing that more people were buying electronic goods, the average basket value decreased by 5 per cent year-on-year. This shows that in 2024, consumers opted for more affordable items.
Unsurprisingly, most transactions were completed on card (84 per cent). However, PayU GPO data continues to reflect a steady annual decline in card preference. Black Friday 2022 saw 93 per cent of payments made by card; this declined to 87 per cent in 2023 and a further 3 per cent this year.
Conversely, EFT Open Banking payment methods saw promising adoption. In particular, CapitecPay transactions increased by 104 per cent compared to 2023, whilst instant EFT (screen scraping) transactions saw a decline of 15 per cent.
A key takeaway for eCommerce retailers is that the ease of use of new Open Banking solutions and ‘one click’ or tokenised card payment methods achieved the highest conversation rates.
Alternative payment options also boosted merchant sales on the day. BNPL methods such as Payflex and RCS saw a year-on-year increase of 86 per cent and loyalty payment options like Discovery Miles and eBuck grew by 39 per cent.
Also in line with general eCommerce trends was the rise in purchases completed on mobile phones, which increased by 5 per cent compared to the previous year. This represented 67 per cent of all Black Friday transactions in South Africa.
Karen Nadasen, CEO, PayU South Africa comments: “In Africa, where eCommerce continues to demonstrate strong and consistent growth, Black Friday is a significant retail event. Our data shows that consumers payment preferences continue to evolve and expand, but also, crucially, that merchants are adapting to these changing demands and offering the payment methods that their customers want. I’m delighted that we were able to pivot to alternatives during disruptions to provide the most robust and continuous payment processing and the highest approval rates to date.”
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