Black Friday: Hit or miss?

PicodiNov 16, 2021

Picodi.com analysts checked how interest in Black Friday sales has changed over the years and conducted a survey among internet users to find out:

what buyers think of Black Friday,
why some people don’t like it,
how many people are trying to shop on November 26, 2021
and which product categories are most popular among customers.

Big drop in interest

In 2020, Black Friday took place for the first time during the pandemic. Data obtained from Google Trends shows that the number of search queries related to Black Friday sales decreased by 37% last year. In South Africa, the Black Friday peak was in 2019, and the decline in interest is already noticeable in 2020.

SHOPPERS' INTEREST IN BLACK FRIDAY SALES

62% of the survey respondents confirmed their participation in Black Friday in 2020. Others didn’t shop on Black Friday for various reasons: 15% didn’t need anything, 6% complained about unexciting discounts, and 2% — about the lack of interesting products on sale. The pandemic also contributed to the decrease of interest in sales: some buyers preferred to avoid crowds (15%) or had a precarious financial situation (41%). Moreover, 21% of respondents forgot about Black Friday.

What buyers (don’t) like Black Friday for

BLACK FRIDAY: PROS AND CONS

The results of the survey indicate that among South Africans there is a more positive than negative attitude towards Black Friday sales. Almost a half of South Africans agreed that Black Friday offers the opportunity to make purchases on very favourable terms. 40% say that Black Friday is the best shopping holiday, and 28% say that Black Friday is an opportunity to buy expensive things much cheaper.

On the other hand, 18% of respondents see fraudulent manipulation of product prices, when the price of an item is raised before the sale and then ‘lowered’. 13% believe that products discounted on Black Friday are uninteresting or slow-moving, and 13% indicated that the discounts on Black Friday do not stand out from other sales.

Black Friday 2021: what will we buy, how much will we spend

51% of the survey respondents declared their willingness to participate in this year’s Black Friday. No one rejected the opportunity to participate in the sales, and 49% are still undecided.

Among the factors that would encourage shopping on Black Friday, the possibility of getting better discounts are most frequently chosen (57%). A discount on a desired product would convince 38% of respondents, and additional cashback, i.e. a return of part of the amount spent, would encourage 5%.

BLACK FRIDAY 2021

We asked decided shoppers which products they are most interested in purchasing on Black Friday. Clothing and footwear (62%) came first, electronics and household appliances came second (40%), and cosmetics and perfume (26%) came third. The average customer is prepared to spend R1,771 on Black Friday purchases, compared to R2,203 in 2020.

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 AliExpress, Mr Price and Boardriders. You just need to sign up to Picodi.com and activate cashback before shopping.

Methodology

The report uses archived data from the Google Trends platform and online surveys conducted on October 15–31 2021 and August 28–September 13, 2020.

Public Use

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