How to get the best deal
Need for ‘game plan’ to ensure consumers buy only from reliable, secure retailers
RESEARCH shows that the Black Friday phenomenon has grown faster in South Africa than any other country in the world.
Last year, PriceCheck saw three times the number of daily visits to its online shopping comparison website on Black Friday, and twice the number on Cyber Monday, compared with its 2017 average. In addition, these visits were on average 30 percent longer than the 2017 average duration.
According to findings from Nielsen’s Advanced Analytics division, the annual promotional event is stimulating growth within South Africa’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. This is based on Nielsen’s retail scanning data, which shows that in November last year FMCG sales increased by 7.2 percent over the average sales of the preceding three months (August to October), equating to R1.36 billion of additional spend in that month.
Compared to the previous year, November 2017 sales increased 8.8 percent, amounting to R1.6bn more spend.
Incremental sales in November last year, versus the average of the preceding three months, were also 55 percent higher (R480 million more) than incremental sales for the 2016 period.
This year is likely to surpass that, with PayPal predicting that South Africans’ online shopping spend will top R53bn by the end of the year, up from R37.1bn last year.
But as the South African online shopping market grows, providing more to choose from, shoppers should put a game plan in place to ensure they get the best deals from the most reliable and secure retailers.
“I started PriceCheck in 2006 to solve this shopping conundrum,” said Kevin Tucker, PriceCheck chief executive. “How can I quickly and easily compare deals to make sure I am making the best decision? Then, how can I be sure I can trust the retailer before parting with my hard-earned cash?”
Here are PriceCheck’s top tips for getting the best deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday:
1. Have a plan. Know what you want, need and can afford before you get enticed by offers in front of you.
2. Choose a secure way to pay: credit card payments that ask you for a supplementary one-time PIN, such as Verified by Visa, Snapscan and PayPal, are all good options.
3. Take note of the delivery and return details. Will you get the purchase when you need it, and if you need to return it, will you end up paying more on delivery costs?
4. Look out for hidden costs or additional purchases you might need to make.
5. Compare deals: similar deals might be packaged slightly differently; compare apples with apples.
6. Buy only from reputable retailers so you can be sure you will receive authentic products.
Kerith Botha, Nielsen South Africa Buy’s managing director, said: “Rapid adoption of the Black Friday phenomenon by consumers, manufacturers and retailers boosted November sales without adversely impacting December sales.”