Boxing Day left behind
BLACK Friday sales have replaced Boxing Day as the leading force in Australia’s $320bn retail sector.
National Australia Bank chief economist Alan Oster said the massive volume of money poured into retailers over Black Friday and the weekend was now showing up in national economic data and shaping the seasonal nature of retail sales in December.
Early data from buy now pay later platform Zip Pay indicates the extent of the activity, with a 52 per cent leap in the spending of its 2.9 million users on Friday against the previous four weeks.
For Zip’s user base there was also a healthy lift in the amount of money they were spending, with the average transaction size on Black Friday up by 30 per cent.
And Black Friday is increasingly becoming an online event, with Zip’s latest data revealing that 65 per cent of the transactions by its customers to take advantage of the special sales and deals were conducted online.
Early statistics from Black Friday sales – which will continue on to Monday for the “Cyber Monday” sales day – show that homewares and home items, electronics (especially gaming), fashion, clothing and cosmetics were the most popular.
Zip said among the top retailers to win from Black Friday sales so far were JB Hi-Fi, the Good Guys, Harvey Norman, Big W, Catch and Kogan.
JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart confirmed the retailer had been busy.
“Sales have been pleasing with good traffic both in store and online. Black Friday sales have been gaining momentum over the years and now is definitely becoming an established promotional event,” he said.
The National Retailers Association is predicting the Black Friday sales, which is actually spread across four days, should generate $5.6bn in retail sales, an 8 per cent rise on last year.
This should help elevate Black Friday – an import from the US where retailers open after midnight on Friday following the Thanksgiving holiday to offer deep discounts and sales – to become a leading Australian retail event.
Debbie Wine, Zip chief marketing officer for Australia and New Zealand, said people were getting in early and using buy now pay later to spend with a range of retailers and across many categories.
“There is no doubt there is pent-up demand among consumers and from what we are seeing we predict Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be bigger retail moments than the Boxing Day Sales.”
Ms Wine said Black Friday this year saw even more people embracing e-commerce, with 65 per cent of Zip spending online.
“In Sydney there was heavy rain so convenience is one explanation but people are still uneasy about Covid so shopping from their phone means they don’t need to line up, check in and wear masks and that gives them peace of mind,” she said
NAB chief economist Mr Oster said November was starting to eclipse December as the key retail month in the calendar.