Despite 2020 being a very tough year for almost everyone, there’s nothing to be gained from not recognising Black Friday and the festive season at large.
This is according to Matthew Leighton, spokesperson for local e-tailer, OneDayOnly.co.za, who says that now more than ever, the economy requires stimulation and regrowth – and Black Friday is the biggest opportunity the e-commerce industry has to contribute towards that economic stimulation.
“We’ve seen consistent growth in Black Friday numbers and we expect this to continue,” says Leighton. Between 2018 and 2019, the home-grown daily deals site saw the number of Black Friday shoppers double, dwarfing the numbers seen on a regular day.
“Internationally, well-established e-commerce markets are still experiencing growth, and we expect to see the same locally. A recent example was Asian e-commerce giant, Alibaba, which reported a 34% sales growth in the June quarter.”
Leighton says thatm with the rapid growth experienced in early lockdown and the sustained business from both their new and existing suppliers, trade at OneDayOnly is up 100% in 2020. “Level 5 lockdown gave e-commerce a massive shot in the arm, and we don’t expect the easing of restrictions will affect that.”
He adds that those who are visiting are buying. “Our weekly sales figures are up significantly from pre-lockdown and remain consistent with hard lockdown numbers – so we expect to see this continue for Black Friday and the festive season period.”
Leighton thinks products that can be used in the home will dominate this year’s buying.
“Unsurprisingly, last year hoverboards and e-readers were in the Top 5 Sellers list in terms of turnover. We’re expecting this big uptake in tech products to continue with the likes of drones, action cameras, TVs, fitness watches, gaming consoles, and audio equipment.”
In addition, Leighton says large kitchen appliances are always in demand on a big shopping day like Black Friday. “Things like washing machines, dishwashers, coffee machines and blenders.
“Last but certainly not least, we should see a similar spike in interest in fashion and fitness apparel, toys, and Christmas gifts,” says Leighton.
He says that Black Friday 2019’s Top Five list in terms of units sold was consistent with this, as shoes and fitness leggings appeared in the top three as well as great gift items like wallets and wireless earpods.
Leighton says online shopping is always easier on Black Friday – but Covid-19 restrictions will ramp this up further. “Online shopping gives you the convenience of purchasing everything you want without going from store to store or competing with other shoppers.
“Throw in Covid restrictions, which will surely see long queues based on restrictions on store capacity and retail shopping taking a lot longer than it normally would, meaning we’re likely to see a move away from brick and mortar shopping and towards e-commerce.”
Online shopping behaviour is also set to change, Leighton believes. “In the last two years, high traffic times were consistently in the early morning at 6am and 9am, as people tried to lock down their deals before the start of the work day and then we would see a peak again around 11am and 1pm – as people took their work day tea or lunch breaks.”
But this year, with the shift to work from home, the OneDayOnly.co.za team expect to see a move in terms of peak time. “We expect this to be more scattered as people are not beholden to such a rigid work structure.”
The other area that they could see a shift is in terms of time spent on the site. “Usually, people spend up to three times longer on the site on Black Friday than on a usual shopping session. While this could be a stretch, we may see this gap close slightly as many people have become digitally and e-commerce savvy as a result of the lockdown,” says Leighton.