Black Friday: facts and numbers
- Around the world, the next Black Friday will take place on 24 November 2023;
- Data shows a 663 per cent increase in sales on Black Friday compared to an ordinary day;
- When shopping online, purchasing with smartphones is a global trend;
- The biggest spenders come from the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the UAE.
In the autumn and winter season, Black Friday sale plays an important role not only in terms of e-commerce turnover but also the activity of shoppers. With the beginning of November, small and middle-sized businesses, as well as bigger players on the market, begin Black Friday preparations. They announce huge sales to take place at the end of November, in both online and brick-and-mortar stores.
Curiously enough, merchants claim that this is not entirely about the fight for increasing their sales. In a sense, sellers and buyers swap places during Black Friday. In normal circumstances, customers gain benefits by shopping regularly and thus asserting their loyalty. In November, stores are the ones that must prove loyalty toward their clients, which can be assessed with regard to the level of rebates and availability of highly discounted products.
For several years, Black-Friday.Global analysts have been closely following Black Friday trends around the world. Below, we present a handful of statistics and interesting facts connected with the busiest shopping day in the world.
Black Friday: trends in the past years
In the beginning, Black Friday used to be a one-day happening in the United States. However, over the past few years, the event has grown into a shopping marathon that lasts for several days. It may sometimes start on Thursday and continue until the end of the week, or even month. In an attempt to grab consumers’ attention, some stores start the so-called presales as early as Monday. Nevertheless, in most countries, the peak of shoppers’ interest falls on the same day. Google Trends data for 22-28 November 2021 shows that one third of all queries related to Black Friday sales were recorded on Friday. Nevertheless, the interest of customers starts to grow on Wednesday and fades on Sunday.
The internal Black-Friday.Global data for 2021 shows a 663 per cent increase in sales compared to an ordinary day. In countries like Mexico or Thailand, the increase is not as significant — 136 and 74 per cent respectively. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom the increase is 1708 per cent, in the RSA — 1952 per cent, and in Germany — 2418 per cent.
Unlike the United States, citizens of other countries do not usually have a day off on Black Friday. Although peaks of online shopping activity in various countries are slightly different, generally they fall on the morning and evening according to Black-Friday.Global data for 2021.
On the other hand, in countries like Turkey, Finland, Greece, Singapore, or Hong Kong, Black Friday seems to have been much-anticipated — basing on the fact that most of the shopping was done right after midnight.
Black Friday spending
Shoppers around the world are planning on taking part in both online and brick-and-mortar sales. In some countries, shoppers have a rather small budget in mind, like Indians ($69), Filipinos ($68), Nigerians ($61), Kazakhstanis ($58) or Pakistanis ($35). In contrast, consumers who declare to spend record-breaking amounts come from the USA ($485), Canada ($430), the United Kingdom ($397), Ireland ($339) and the United Arab Emirates ($291).
According to the data from 2021, when shopping online during Black Friday, purchasing with smartphones was a global trend, noted among others in the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, or Indonesia.
Methodology and data source
All statistical data comes from Picodi.com, a global discount platform operating since 2010, which created Black-Friday.Global, a site dedicated to Black Friday sales. The surveys conducted in July and November 2021 among 23 thousand respondents from 55 countries were also used in the report. For currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate from xe.com.
Public Use
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Black Friday 2021 Around the World
This event, known previously only in the States, has gained a truly worldwide popularity within just a few years. On average, three quarters of the population knows what Black Friday is.
Black-Friday.Global Analysis Team has been closely following this trend for the past several years. We know exactly how relevant this event is for retailers, the domestic and local economy, as well as for average consumers.
How does the interest in shopping and discounts grow among different nations in November? Which categories of goods are characterised by the highest demand? How much money do shoppers spend during Black Friday shopping craze and how are they different from the other nations? We've analyzed Black Friday statistics and conducted surveys in 55 countries to answer the above questions. Here are the results of our analysis.
Global Recognition
Black Friday is now a phenomenon for a reason. Google's data suggests that in the last 5 years the interest of Internet users in this event has more than doubled. Every year, in almost every country, the shopping fever results in new sales records. Only in western hemisphere countries, where trends from the US appear faster, a moderate increase in Black Friday discounts is noted.
The survey suggests that 47% will participate in Black Friday this year (an increase of 9 percentage points compared to 2017). The majority of consumers will shop both online and offline (49.35%), the rest will either opt for traditional offline-only (16.10%) or online-only (34.55%) option. For comparison, in 2017 the percentage of users choosing brick and mortar stores only was higher by 10% (from 16.10% to 26.83%).
Boosting The Global Economy
Such a great Black Friday recognition results in sales numbers' surges each year. In each of the 55 analysed countries, the number of online transactions on Black Friday increased significantly when compared to the regular day. Take Greece for example, where users have made 2600% more purchases than usual or South Africa with 2571% growth in transaction number. However, in no other country, the Black Friday interest was as big as in Pakistan, where users activity was higher by enormous 11,525%.
Unsurprisingly so November is usually the month where most profits are generated. According to certain estimates around 20% of annual turnover is being made in November. What's more, our internal data allows us to reevaluate that in certain markets – e.g. the UK, Greece, RSA – where even every third transaction is taking place in November.
Hard Money
The results of the survey show that users in North America and Europe are willing to spend the most during Black Friday. The ultimate record holders in spending money are Americans, who spend $515 on average. Canadians ($488) and Brits ($399) are also relatively big spenders. On the contrary, Asian customers – i.e. in Pakistan ($44), Malaysia ($41), Philippines ($59) – are planning to spend relatively small amounts of money.
Pieces of Black Friday Cake
Every year, the world press feeds us with dozens of photos of crowds besieging electronic stores. Surprisingly though, the results of our survey state that clothes, not electronics, are the actual apple of bargain hunters' eye. Consumer electronics category came second in our ranking. On the other side of the scale books, sports accessories and underwear were the least popular items to buy.
Unusual Markdowns
Black Friday is well known for its discounts reaching as high as 80–90%. Even though the number of items available for a single dollar or with 90% discount is highly limited, those participating in Black Friday can count on legitimate bargains. According to our Black Friday 2017 data, the biggest discounts were available for Americans (68% average markdown), Canadians (66%) and Ukrainians (66%). A little less impressive rebates were found in Russia (58% average markdown), Brazil (57%) and Turkey (56%). World's average sets around 55% off.
Black Friday Figures
- 77% of people around the world know what Black Friday is, and 47% is willing to participate in the shopping spree this year
- 49.35% of bargain hunters will choose both online and offline sales
- Shoppers around the world will spend on average $186 during Black Friday sales, with clothes, electronics and shoes on mind
Methodology and Data Sources
This report was created based on data provided by Picodi.com – a global discounts provider existing since 2010. Black-Friday.Global – dedicated to Black Friday deals – was created by Picodi.com. 12,000 participants from 55 countries took part in the survey.
Public Use
Would you like to share the Black Friday insights with your audience? Feel free to use and share the report results and infographics in both commercial and noncommercial way as long as you indicate the authorship of the study (Black-Friday.Global) with a link to this subpage.