JOHANNESBURG - The latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study Black Friday report said South African consumers would have less money in their pockets to spend on luxury goods and would be looking to retailers for discounts and bargains – particularly on staple items – this Black November.
Hard-pressed consumers are battling with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the expanded unemployment rate increasing to a record 41.3 percent in the third quarter of this year.
However, all is not lost, according to the report, which was released earlier yesterday.
It said that despite the subdued consumer sentiment, retailers could capitalise on the opportunity presented by Black Friday – R2.9 billion was spent on Black Friday in 2018 and R6bn was spent last year.
And it was expected that 30 percent of millennials are going to spend more this holiday than they did last year.
“Already we have seen the changes begin with the extension of special offers starting from the beginning of November leading up to Black Friday and inevitably Cyber Monday as well. This overlap of shopping holidays has given rise to the name ‘Black November’,” said the report.
According to the report, there was likely to be a significant increase in online shopping, with many new customers going online in order not to miss out on the many bargains and deals.
However, there was also a lack of trust in newly created online stores which has stemmed from the number of fraudulent online stores and scams that plague the internet.
The report said in order to avoid this, companies needed to build trust in their customers through transparency, ensuring that their websites are user-friendly and that customers are reassured that their personal information is secure.
BUSINESS REPORT