Black Friday bonanza: South Africans shift sharply toward digital deals and smarter buying
This Black Friday surpassed expectations in a year that has seen South African merchants face tough conditions.
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With at least 3.5 million card swipes between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, more than R2 billion has been spent.
No-one, however, seems to have beat the R1 million in a single purchase made by one person on Friday.
IOL had predicted that this year’s Black Friday spend could hit between R146 billion and R153 billion.
However, it is possible that the so-far reported figures can well be exceeded if the fact that consumers have been pacing themselves throughout Black November is considered.
Peach Payments saw a 93% increase in rand value processed from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, compared to 2024.
“Over the four-day weekend we processed more than 2.69 million transactions, to a total value of more than R1.86 billion,” says Rahul Jain, CEO and cofounder.
The largest individual transaction Peach Payments processed on Black Friday was for R1.09m in the Travel & Accommodation industry.
Coincidentally, Absa said that the largest deal it had recorded so far was for just over R1 million “at a car rental company”.
The retail industry alone grew its share of online sales over the four-day Black Friday weekend by 154% from last year, the company adds.
This comes against the backdrop of a 109% overall growth in rand value processed via the payment service provider’s platform in the month of November (Black November) compared to November 2024.
“We continue to see deals being pulled in across the whole of November, not just the weekend,” Jain commented.
This corresponds with what BDO SA has indicated.
Palesa Ngomeza, director of consumer markets at BDO SA, noted “Black Friday has undergone a remarkable transformation in South Africa”.
Ngomeza added that the “frenzied scenes of shoppers queuing for hours and stampeding through store doors have given way to a more calculated, strategic approach to deal-hunting”.
The day, Ngomeza says, is no longer treated this as a single-day shopping spree, but rather as "Black November”, an extended period for careful planning and research by consumers.
“This year's shopping behaviour reflects a fundamental shift in how South Africans approach Black Friday,” says Ngomeza.
As a result, gone are the days of impulsive splurging.
Greg Potterton, Chief Growth Officer for BOO! Campus Media, added that, for many young South Africans, Black Friday has become a way to buy stability rather than status.
“Their baskets are filled with skincare to keep routine, supplements to manage low energy, gym memberships to support their mental health and functional drinks to get through long study or workdays,” said Potterton.
Jain said that “we also continue to see a shift to online spending rather than in physical stores”.
Most industry sectors did well over the weekend, with Financial Services up 98%, Leisure & Entertainment up 48% and Travel & Accommodation up 35%.
“While the vast majority of transactions were card payments, consumers are adopting a variety of new payment methods,” comments Jain.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments processed by Peach Payments over the weekend grew by 753% in rand value from 2024.
ApplePay also showed a sharp increase of 549% growth in rand value year-on-year, which he attributes to the seamless and secure user experience these digital wallets offer consumers today.
“This Black Friday surpassed expectations in a year that has seen South African merchants face tough conditions,” Jain comments.
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