SA Insights
Black Friday Index
springs a surprise
Beneath the retail frenzy at the end of November every year, a shifting reality is taking shape, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.
Black Friday has long been regarded as the key online retail event of the year, but new data reveals a more nuanced truth. While the shopping bonanza remains dominant, its significance is evolving in unexpected ways.
The inaugural Black Friday Index, a study conducted by World Wide Worx in collaboration with Ecentric Payment Systems, delivers insights that challenge the traditional narrative. It is based on retail transaction data processed through the Ecentric payment gateway, which handles 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serves as a payments partner to 65% of JSE-listed retailers.
The research was conducted to provide a benchmark for Black Friday’s impact relative to the full holiday shopping period, which runs from the beginning of November to Christmas Eve. It excludes grocery transactions, to offer a clearer view of discretionary spending trends.
In recent years, South African retailers treated Black Friday as an unmissable cash grab, a weekend to spike annual revenues, among several other shoppable moments. But the new data reveals a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour. Online shopping continues to surge, yet brick-and-mortar stores are staging a remarkable comeback.
Between 2023 and 2024, online transaction volume during the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period grew by 30.4% as a share of total holiday transactions. Online revenue totals climbed by 23.8%, reinforcing the impression of consumers favouring e-commerce. At face value, this is business as usual: online shopping has been on an upward trajectory for over a decade.
But the real surprise is the in-store revival.
Despite years of predictions about the demise of physical retail, in-store Black Friday revenue as a proportion of total holiday season spend in stores surged by 109.4% over the same period. In other words, online options did not keep shoppers out of stores.
This is a signal that traditional shopping is adapting. Retailers are taking advantage of the fact that consumers still crave the sensory engagement of physical stores; the ability to see, touch, and try products. More importantly, shoppers are responding to retailers who have reimagined the in-store experience with interactive displays, festive attractions and tailored promotions that offer a level of engagement no algorithm can match.
“The index makes it clear that the Black Friday weekend stands out from the full holiday shopping period in both sales volume and growth,” says Rory Bosman, chief sales and marketing officer of Ecentric Payment Systems. “The latest data confirms that retailers who capitalised on this peak moment saw the biggest gains, with both online and in-store revenue outperforming the rest of the holiday season.”
At the same time, the Black Friday Index challenges a common assumption: that Black Friday sales cannibalise spending for the rest of the holiday season. The data suggests the opposite. Instead of drawing money away from December shopping, it appears to set the tone for consumer behaviour in the weeks that follow. Retailers who succeed in the Black Friday weekend gain momentum, retaining more customers into the festive period.
The index highlights the increasingly sophisticated tactics retailers must employ. In previous years, steep discounts alone were enough to drive foot traffic and clicks. Now, personalisation and experience-driven shopping are becoming decisive factors.
“Retailers seeking to make the most of Black Friday need to prioritise seamless digital experiences and mobile optimisation with exclusive deals,” says Bosman.
The lessons for the future are clear. Among other, retailers must invest in personalised digital experiences while making physical stores destinations rather than seeing them becoming mainly distribution points.
“It is vital, in 2025 and beyond, that retailers use data for targeted promotions and flexible fulfilment options,” says Bosman. “Online and in-store integration must be seamless, from inventory to promotions.”
Such integration of channels is no longer a luxury, but the cost of entry.
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. He led the Black Friday Index study.
