Online transactions on Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 fared slightly better than in previous years as more South Africans chose to do their bargain hunting from the web.
3D-Secure, BankservAfrica’s online card authentication service (i.e. transactions that require a one-time pin), shows the total number of transactions for Cyber Monday 2020, on 30 November 2020, reached 372 777 and jumped by 49% from 2019’s 249 903. On Black Friday 2020, online sales reached 628 666 transactions, representing an 18% year-on-year increase from the previous year’s 534 828.
A comparison of the two days reveals this year’s Black Friday had a higher value of 85% at R682-million than Cyber Monday’s R367-million. The transaction volumes differed by 69% with Black Friday in the lead.
“There is usually less traffic for online sales over these days, therefore these numbers come off a low base. It is still interesting to observe the influence that Covid-19 has had on the shopping behaviour of many South Africans,” says Martin Grunewald, chief business officer at BankservAfrica.
The most expensive purchase on Cyber Monday was valued at R1 000 000 for a holiday package while for Black Friday this was R900 000 for the payment of services.
Online shopping carts filled throughout Black Friday with growth picking up by the hour. The busiest shopping times occurred between 10:00 – 11:00 while for Cyber Monday, the peak hours were between 11:00 – 12:00.
“The Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 online transactions reflected remarkable annual growth in 2020. It will be interesting to see if this level of activity continues into the upcoming holiday break,” says Grunewald.