South Africans took to online shopping platforms in their numbers on Black Friday, with transaction growth outpacing physical retail, local banks have reported.
Absa said that while the average basket size of in-store purchases increased 24% to R496 on Black Friday, through its channels, the average online basket has increased 25% to R827 year on year.
Rival Standard Bank saw a similar picture.
Tumelo Ramugondo, head of credit card at Standard Bank SA, noted more online spend as opposed to in-store spend, with card-not-present transaction volumes contributing 22% of volumes compared with 12% in the 2024 Black Friday weekend.
Findings from the banks are in line with recent data by the E-commerce Forum of SA (Efsa), which reported that e-commerce in the country has grown from 1% to nearly 10% of retail sales in just five years.
The Efsa study, by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Mistra) in partnership with Takealot, shows SA’s e-commerce market is projected to grow to R130bn by year’s end, representing nearly 10% of total retail sales.
While transaction volumes topped 2024’s numbers, Absa observed softer growth compared with previous instances of the retail occasion. In addition, the trend by retailers to spread their specials and promotions over an extended period, beyond one day, has affected transaction volumes.
“As anticipated, our data reflects a more cautious yet informed consumer when it comes to spending,” said Andrew Wilmot, executive for payments acceptance at Absa Business Banking.
While interest rate relief offers some breathing room, consumers remain focused on managing their budgets responsibly as we approach the festive season
— Andrew Wilmot, executive for payments acceptance at Absa Business Banking
“Consistent with a trend we’ve observed over the past few years, retailers are increasingly spreading their offers across the entire Black November period. This is reflected in consumer spending behaviour, with shoppers increasingly more discerning and looking for value. While interest rate relief offers some breathing room, consumers remain focused on managing their budgets responsibly as we approach the festive season.”
Business Day previously reported that retailers were heading into a subdued Black Friday trading period, with research firm NIQ warning that meaningful year-on-year growth had all but disappeared from one of the country’s biggest retail events.
After years of double-digit surges, NIQ said Black Friday had reached a saturation point, with sales volumes and revenue across technology and durables expected to be largely flat compared with 2024.
The warning came as retailers scramble to lock in value-driven customers who are shopping more carefully, comparing prices earlier and refusing to spend on deals that do not offer genuine savings. Even as discounting intensifies, household budgets remain tight and consumers are directing what money they do have towards essentials and functional upgrades rather than discretionary splurges.
Card transactions top digital payments
Overall, card transactions continue to exceed overall digital payment activity in the economy.
For Absa, the highest single purchase recorded by midday on Black Friday was R500,000 for a luxury hotel booking and more than R1m at a car rental company.
Standard Bank’s largest transaction saw a customer paying R864,000 for home furnishings. The same customer was also the second highest spender for the day with total spend of R1.05m
The bank saw a booking for international lodging being made for R734,000.
Absa recorded a steady start to the day, reporting more than 2% growth in transaction volumes, with values up 7% compared with the same period last year. By midday, transactional volumes from its cardholders had already exceeded 2024 levels, with card transactions peaking at 441 per second.
Standard Bank’s retail customers saw their transaction volumes up 6.6% and values up 6.8% on the day.
Ramugondo said the spend categories with the highest year-on-year change were:
- Travel-related on tour operators, airlines and car rentals, up 25%;
- Ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon and Takealot, with a 10-fold increase;
- Children and toddlers goods up 80%;
- Electronics and appliances up 6.6%, but in that category streaming services were up 28%.
“Across Absa’s merchant business and including Absa cardholder activity, we’ve seen shoppers spending over a broader period, resulting in a marginal reduction in transaction volumes on the day,” said the JSE-listed lender.
It said real-time clearing transactions, which transfer payments from a payer to a beneficiary within 30 seconds, continue to “demonstrate double the transaction values of point-of-sale”.
With Nompilo Zulu
Business Day
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