Consumer Watch

Black Friday goes ONLINE

GEORGINA CROUTH

DEALS for more days, greater choice and other enticements to keep customers out of brick-and-mortar stores – that’s how retailers are responding to a pandemic Black Friday because Covid or no Covid, the sales bonanza is here to stay.

E-commerce is estimated to have surged by 16% this year and Covid-19 has changed the game for retailers. In May, Nielsen found 65% of South Africans shopped less at supermarkets due to Covid-19, while those who shopped online shopped more (29%) and 21% continued as before.

Marketing agency HaveYouHeard head of insights Claudia Schonitz says: “Many, many South Africans have emerged from the pandemic with considerably less spending power. Not only will this put pressure on brands and businesses to fight for less, they will need to work harder to convince consumers to support them.”

HaveYouHeard’s recent survey found 81% of respondents who shopped for groceries online said safety from Covid-19 was the biggest benefit to online grocery shopping. Only 27% said they would probably continue once Covid-19 was no longer a threat.

Last week, announcements came in thick and fast about how brick-and-mortar stores would be offering Black Friday for the entire month.

Warrick Kernes from the Insaka eCommerce Academy says physical stores have been forced to prepare for an online surge to avoid the risk of Black Friday becoming a super-spreader.

“E-commerce has been growing 25% year-on-year over the past decade but its growth this year has been stepped up: consumers were forced to adopt processes and tech that they should have used before, because of the joy and ease of having things delivered at home or office.”

The spectre of Black Friday, though, raised concern about super-spreaders: “Even if we don’t see a second wave in South Africa, retailers would not want to encourage shoppers to come in droves to stores.”

Spreading out the sale makes sense for any seller because there’s less “noise” around the day, customers get to pick their deals calmly and they aren’t bombarded by marketing material.

Towards the end of a year scarred by a pandemic and economic devastation, online retailers can expect a bumper sales period because shoppers would want to avoid physical retail stores over Covid-19 fears – and capitalise on deals.

Kernes says this is a massive opportunity for online sellers in South Africa to benefit.

* Georgina Crouth is a consumer watchdog with serious bite. Write to her at consumer@inl.co.za, tweet her @georginacrouth and follow her on Facebook.