A consumer survey conducted by South African retailer Game found that consumers were looking forward to shopping with Black Friday deals. The survey was conducted by a third-party provider.
1600 consumers were part of the study with household incomes ranging from less than R10 000 to R30 000 a month. Participants ranged from 18 years old to over 50.
Vice President of Game Andrew Stein said the population that earns less than R10 000 a month is more likely to shop in-store with cash. "South African consumers are savvy shoppers and bargain hunters,'' said Stein.
The study was racially diverse and included consumers from all nine provinces. Game found that 67% of respondents looked forward to Black Friday deals, and 63% thought that the day was still relevant in the country.
43% said they did not partake in the shopping deals in 2020 but were looking forward to it this year. The survey found that groceries and essentials items (77%), appliances (63%) and electronics (62%) were the most popular categories that consumers were looking to save on.
The survey revealed that 50% of the participants wanted to shop both in-store and online. Only 25% planned to shop in-store, while 23% wanted to shop solely online. 94% of consumers were found to compare across retailers when planning and shopping for Black Friday deals.
Consumers aged between 24 and 35 planned to hunt for appliances. Females over the age of 25 were more likely to be looking for deals on groceries and essential items. Males under 50 were likely to search for electronics.
Through its Black November SBWL competition, Game found that consumers were most interested in buying Smart and LED TVs as wells as laptops and smart phones. Vice President of Marketing of Game Katherine Madley said big-ticket items are always on consumers' shopping lists.
“Many of our competition entrants also said they'd like to stock their pantries and cupboards with more essential items this year, such as non-perishable food items and nappies as popular options.
“This is proof of how stretched the consumer budget is in 2021 and follows the trend we have seen with consumer shopping habits and the last 18 months, where shopping has become more about essential needs rather than luxury items," said Madley.
BUSINESS REPORT