Black Friday around the world

Thanksgiving may be an American holiday, but the following day is now an international phenomenon. Once an unofficial opportunity for workers to play hooky and get a head start on holiday shopping, Black Friday has blossomed into one of the year’s most active shopping days around the world.

Of course, the globalisation of this sales bonanza owes much to e-commerce. While people from Peru to the United Arab Emirates may not get the day off to hunt for deals in person as Americans do, the internet makes cashing in on big savings possible from any location. At Picodi, the world of digital discounts is our business, so we’re well aware of Black Friday’s massive scale. Now we’re sharing our data with the public, so you can see how the world gets its shop on.

Using our internal numbers for traffic and transactions, we’ve compiled this analysis of how shoppers worldwide are pursuing deals and discounts online when Black Friday rolls around. Our findings show just how much shopping surges, which countries are cashing in, and what they’re buying most. Read on to see how savvy shoppers worldwide are saving big on Black Friday.

The Global Shopping Surge

Black Friday enthusiasm is so intense internationally, a single day can’t contain it – Cyber Monday now extends the deals further for e-commerce fanatics. To cover how shopping spikes on both days, we contrasted November 2016 sales with stats from the month prior. Overall, we saw traffic on our site triple in November, reaching 19.3 million visitors across all markets. But while all countries saw this Black Friday-inspired spike in activity, some were exceptionally eager to shop in November. Website sessions in Finland surged more than 500 percent over its October figures, while Greece and Portugal each saw their sessions spike more than 450 percent.

No nation seemed to cherish this season of sales so much as South Africa, though, where website sessions jumped 936 percent in November. This activity may reflect the nation’s burgeoning international e-commerce interest, with as much as 43 percent of the adult population buying products from abroad online. Other nations demonstrated a surprising interest in November’s digital deals, despite low rates of internet among their populace. While just 15 percent of Pakistan’s residents use the internet with some regularity, their sessions increased roughly 338 percent in November, indicating a keen interest in digital deals.

The Day of the Deal

Given November’s general traffic spike, it should come as no surprise that Black Friday sees a huge number of ensuing transactions. But our figures offer an extraordinary glimpse into the flurry of activity that takes place globally. Compared to the average number of transactions occurring on all other days of the year, South Africans made 16,226 percent more purchases on our site, more than twice as large a percentage increase as that of any other country. Greece’s transactions increased roughly 7,293 percent above its average daily rate, while purchases in Pakistan, Mexico, and Nigeria each jumped between 3,000 and 4,400 percent as well.

Interestingly, Black Friday surges were somewhat limited in some of the world’s wealthiest nations, such as Germany or the U.K. While the effects of the shopping holiday were significant in these countries, some reports indicate that Black Friday enthusiasm may have cooled in Western Europe. Whether that’s really the case, it seems plenty of deal-hunting drive exists elsewhere on the continent, such as Finland’s 700 percent spike.

The Deals Are Real

While our users can find significant savings on any day, their Black Friday visits to our site were particularly rewarded. In fact, their savings on the day totalled €29,937,402, with the average user saving €62.41 individually. Those savings seem particularly sweet compared to the average amount each user spent:€80.79. That figure is predictably higher than what users spend on a typical day (€62.72), but it also means average savings amounted to more than 77% of what the average user paid on Black Friday. Additionally, that €62.41 in average savings goes a long way in many of the countries where we observed intense Black Friday traffic and transaction activity.

These deals reflect the roughly 3,200 special offers available on our site on Black Friday 2016, and those number could improve in 2017. This year, we anticipate having roughly 5,000 unique offers available, which could push total and average savings even higher.

Black Friday Buys

According to our data, a large part of the international community appreciates a steal on some stylish threads. While many big-box retailers seem to emphasise electronics in their Black Friday deals, that category actually ranked behind fashion for our users. Perhaps this pattern reflects limited brick-and-mortar representation of some clothing brands internationally: Gap, for instance, has just 12 franchise stores on the entire continent of Africa.

In a world where much of the text we read is delivered digitally, books took a surprising third place. Other unexpected categories for Black Friday activity included food delivery services.

Black Friday’s Best Loved Brands

While Black Friday may be an international affair, major American companies appear among the most popular brands worldwide. Amazon was a hit in both Spain and Mexico – heartening news for a brand committed to aggressive international investment. Meanwhile, Nike was the top Black Friday brand in both Germany and Portugal. The athletic wear brand has recently relied on global sales to compensate for anemic numbers at home.

Elsewhere, regionally powerful brands dominated the Black Friday action. Asian e-commerce giant Lazada was arguably the most popular brand of all, ranking first in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Other regional favourites included Falabella in Peru and Chile and Lamoda in Russia and neighbouring Belarus. Apparently, Black Friday opportunities are too great for retailers to ignore in virtually every corner of the globe.

Black Friday in Nigeria

Nigeria received a serious boost on the day of Black Friday including a 68 percent surge in website sessions. This resulted in a staggering daily transactions increase by over 3,032 percent and brought the usual average order value of ₦11,948 to the level of ₦13,780. The cause of the spike is fairly simple and unsurprising – great deals. With the average discount value of ₦8,910 on a regular day, Black Friday in Nigeria resulted in an unprecedented spike in the average savings allowing users to enjoy ₦10,826 average rebate on a single purchase. In total, Nigerians visiting Picodi on that special day did all the maths right – a cumulative total of ₦13,357,422 in savings is a glorious example of a pure money-saving nature.

Black Friday by the Numbers

• On Black Friday 2016, our site saw 3,656,805 pageviews. In 2017, we’re projecting that total will increase to 4,708,276.
• Compared to October 2016, November 2016 pageviews increased 57.51 percent, and sessions jumped 53.35 percent.
• This year, we project the number of users visiting Picodi on Black Friday to be 1.2 million.
• On Black Friday 2016, the average order value was €80.79. That’s a significant increase from the average order value on other days: €62,72.
• Users saved big on Black Friday 2016, with an average discount value of €62.41. That’s up from €40.95 on a usual day.
• In 2016, the average Black Friday discount was 53 percent, up from 43 percent on the average day.
• In total, users saved €29,937,402 on Black Friday last year.

Your Best Black Friday

While our findings demonstrate the scope of Black Friday activity internationally, the power of this shopping holiday is actually far more personal. Wherever you live, the day represents a chance to score big by shopping smart – whichever deal you’re seeking this year. Despite our other differences, getting a good deal may be something that the citizens of every country can appreciate. So when Black Friday 2017 arrives, get ready to get clicking and know you’ll share a special bond with other thrifty spenders around the world.

Let Picodi be a part of that savings bonanza with excellent and exclusive offers and discounts for the brands you love. Black Friday may mean great prices for all shoppers, but our coupons and sales will leave you feeling like you got the best deal of all.

With Picodi you can save not only during the Black Friday, but also throughout the year. You can combine discount codes with our cashback service to save up even more in shops such as Jumia Nigeria, Wish and Aliexpress. You just need to sign up to Picodi.com and activate cashback before shopping.

Methodology

We analysed our internal traffic and transaction data for November and Black Friday specifically. Our metrics include data from each of the countries where Picodi currently offers its services to users.

Sources

• https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-history-of-black-friday-3305711
• https://www.theguardian.com/business/gallery/2016/nov/25/black-friday-around-the-world-in-pictures
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahweinswig/2016/11/17/cyber-monday-set-to-dominate-holiday-sales/#7089d08236f9
• https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/sa-e-commerce-growing-by-leaps-and-bounds-20170222
• http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/internet-access-growing-worldwide-but-remains-higher-in-advanced-economies/
• https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-friday-uk-photographs_us_58381b61e4b09b6056006541
• http://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-top-selling-items-2016-11
• http://www.gapinc.com/content/attachments/gapinc/GPSEarnings/Global%20Footprint.pdf
• http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-international-sales-jump-2017-10
• https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/nike-q1-2018-earnings.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/business/alibaba-amazon-southeast-asia-lazada.html

Fair Use Statement

Want to share that Black Friday feeling with your own audience? You’re welcome to use our images and findings for non-commercial purposes, so long as you credit Picodi with a link to this page. Now, that’s a pretty great deal.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re a journalist hoping to learn more about Black Friday activity on our site, we’re happy to work with you. From internal metrics to 2017 projections, we can help you tell your story about one of the biggest shopping days around the world. Get in touch with us at contact.nigeria@picodi.com.