Saffers online the most eager in the world over Black Friday

No nation embraces Black Friday more than South Africa‚ if international discounts website picodi.com’s stats are anything to go by.

“Website sessions jumped 936% last November‚” Picodi said. “This activity may reflect the nation’s burgeoning international e-commerce interest‚ with as much as 43% of the adult population buying products from abroad online.”

The site‚ which harnesses discount deals from retailers around the globe‚ analysed its international e-commerce data over the past three years for November and Black Friday specifically.

“Our figures offer an extraordinary glimpse into the flurry of activity that takes place on Black Friday globally‚” Picodi said. “Clothing‚ electronics‚ books‚ perfume and children’s toys were the most bought categories for Black Friday shoppers using Picodi.

“Compared to the average number of transactions occurring on all other days of the year‚ South Africans made 16,226% more purchases on our site‚ more than twice as large a percentage increase as that of any other country.” The top Black Friday brands in South Africa were Edgars‚ Woolworths‚ and Pick n Pay.

Greece’s transactions increased roughly 7,293% above its average daily rate‚ while purchases in Pakistan‚ Mexico‚ and Nigeria each jumped between 3,000 and 4,400 percent as well.

Interestingly‚ Black Friday surges were somewhat limited in some of the world’s wealthiest nations‚ such as Germany and the U.K.

“While the effects of the shopping holiday were significant in these countries‚ some reports indicate that Black Friday enthusiasm may have cooled in Western Europe‚” Picodi said.

But plenty of deal-hunting happens elsewhere on the continent‚ such as Finland’s 700-percent spike. Average savings amounted to more than 77% of what the average user paid on Black Friday‚ according to Picodi’s data.

Clothing was more popular than electronic goods‚ possibly because some international clothing brands have limited physical stores - Gap‚ for example‚ has just 12 franchise stores on the entire African continent.

Major American companies are among the most popular brands worldwide‚ Picodi says. Amazon was a hit in both Spain and Mexico and Nike was the top Black Friday brand in both Germany and Portugal.

But Asian e-commerce giant Lazada was the most popular brand of all‚ ranking first in Vietnam‚ Thailand‚ the Philippines‚ Malaysia‚ and Indonesia.