Black Friday 2024
Singapore

Black Friday: facts and numbers

• In Singapore and around the world, the next Black Friday will take place on 24 November 2023;
• The peak of shopping activity takes place at midnight and 11 am;
• During Black Friday, an average Singaporean buys 4 products;
• Singaporeans are planning on spending around S$236 per person in both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

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 in Singapore and 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. In Singapore, Google Trends data for 22-28 November 2021 shows that one third of all queries related to Black Friday sales were recorded on Friday (35.8 per cent). Nevertheless, the interest of customers starts to grow on Wednesday and fades on Sunday. This tendency is characteristic for not only Singapore but other countries as well.

The research conducted by Black-Friday.Global in 2021 shows that 82 per cent of surveyed Singaporeans are aware of the existence of Black Friday. However, not all of them were able to recall the exact date, which may explain the gradual increase of interest in this event even a few weeks before it takes place (Google Trends).

The internal Black-Friday.Global data for 2021 in Singapore shows a 511 per cent increase in sales compared to an ordinary day. Such high numbers are not uncommon. For example, in Australia the increase is 871 per cent, in the United Kingdom — over 1708 per cent, and in Germany — over 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.

In countries like Turkey, Finland, Greece, Singapore and Hong Kong, Black Friday seems to have been much-anticipated — basing on the fact that most of the shopping was done right after midnight.

On the Singaporean Internet, the intensity of shopping was distributed quite evenly between 8 am and 11 pm with the peaks at midnight and 11 am according to Black-Friday.Global data for 2021.

Level of discounts versus shoppers’ expectations

Statistical data from the past few years show that an average Black Friday discount in Singapore has slightly decreased (from 53 per cent in 2017 to 51 per cent in 2021). Interestingly, these numbers are similar to expectations of Singaporean consumers (who get ready for 53 per cent markdowns).

Shoppers from Belarus, Greece and Peru expect higher price reductions (62 per cent). Unfortunately, local stores are only able to offer discounts which are 8-10 percentage points lower than those anticipated by customers. On the other hand, monitoring the deals from stores in Ukraine, RSA and the Philippines shows that merchants in these countries are prepared to offer far more attractive discounts, exceeding the expectations of shoppers.

Top products bought by Singaporeans

According to the survey, among Singaporeans who are going to take part in the Black Friday frenzy, 41 per cent already know what to buy. As for the number of purchased items, Singaporeans are going to buy 4.1 on average. Past years’ statistics indicate that the most popular categories of products among Black Friday shoppers in Singapore are clothing, shoes, cosmetics and perfumes, electronics, as well as gifts.

Around the world, widely-understood fashion products take the lead during Black Friday. Nonetheless, in some countries like Brazil, Switzerland, India, Malaysia, or Romania, electronics prevail in shopping carts.

Black Friday spending

Singaporeans are planning on taking part in both online and brick-and-mortar sales. Those who will choose more than one channel are ready to spend around S$236. It is equivalent to US$174. In other countries, shoppers have a smaller budget in mind, like Hongkongers (US$83), Filipinos (US$68) or Pakistanis (US$35). In contrast, consumers who declare to spend record-breaking amounts come from the USA (US$485), Canada (US$430), the United Kingdom (US$397), Ireland (US$339) and the United Arab Emirates (US$291).

According to the data from 2021, when shopping online during Black Friday, more than half (55.2 per cent) of Singaporean customers used smartphones, 41.2 per cent preferred desktops, and the remaining 3.5 percent chose tablets. 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 21 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

Share information about Black Friday with your readers! All the data and infographics presented in this report can be freely used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Black-Friday.Global) with a link to this subpage.

Black Friday 2021 in Singapore

This event, previously known only in the States, has gained a truly worldwide popularity within just a few years. In Singapore, 82% of respondents know 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, domestic and local economies, and average consumers.

How is the interest in shopping and discounts growing among Singaporeans in November? Which categories of goods are most in-demand? How much money do Singaporeans spend during the Black Friday craze and how do their shoppig habits differ from other nations? We’ve analyzed Black Friday statistics and conducted surveys in 55 countries to answer the 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 the Western Hemisphere countries where trends from the US appear faster a moderate increase in Black Friday discounts is noted.

Over the past 5 years, the popularity of this shopping event has been growing consistently. The survey suggests that almost half of Singaporeans will participate in Black Friday this year (an increase of 5 percentage points when compared to 2017). The majority of consumers will shop both online and offline (63%), one-third claim that they will shop only on the Internet (33%) and the rest will opt for the traditional offline-only option (4%). For comparison, in 2017 the percentage of users choosing only brick and mortar stores was almost twice as high (decreasing from 7% to 4%).

Boosting The Global Economy

Such a great recognition of the shopping holiday results in surges in sales year-to year. In each of the 55 analysed countries the number of online transactions made on Black Friday increased significantly when compared to a regular day. Take Greece, for example, with 2600% more purchases than usual or South Africa with a 2571% increase in their transaction numbers. However, in no other country the interest in Black Friday is as big as in Pakistan where users activity was higher by enormous 11,525%.

Unsurprisingly, November is usually when most profits are generated. According to certain estimates, around 20% of annual turnover is made in November. What’s more, on the basis of Picodi's internal data, it can be estimated that almost every third transaction in countries such as the UK, Greece or RSA is made in November..

Big Money

The results of the survey show that those who are willing to spend the most money during Blak Friday are users from North America and Europe. Conversely, customers from Asian countires, such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippines are planning to spend relatively small amounts of money during that time.

An average bargain hunter from Singapore is willing to pay S$225 for what's inside their Black Friday shopping cart. That is S$170 more than a Malaysian consumer but S$40 less than an Australian one.

Pieces of the Black Friday Cake

Every year, the world press feeds us with dozens of photos of crowds besieging electronics stores. Surprisingly, our survey shows that clothes, not electronics, are the apple of a bargain hunter’s eye and the aforementioned consumer electronics category comes only second in our ranking. On the other side of the scale are books, sports accessories, and underwear which seem to be the least desirable items to buy, even during Black Friday.

Unusual Markdowns

Black Friday is well-known for discounts reaching as high as 80 or 90%. Even though the number of items available for just a dollar or at a 90% discount is highly limited, those participating in Black Friday can count on genuine deals when doing their shopping. 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 offered in Russia (58% average markdown), Brazil (57%) and Turkey (56%). The world’s average markdown is set around 55% off.

In Singapore it was 53%. When forecasting Singaporeans’ Black Friday 2023 expenses, the numbers mentioned above might translate into S$254 of possible savings.

Black Friday Figures in Singapore

• 82% of Singaporeans know what Black Friday is, and 49% are willing to participate in the shopping spree this year
• 63% of bargain hunters will choose both online and offline sales
• An average Singaporean will spend over S$225 during Black Friday sales, with clothes, electronics and shoes in mind

Methodology and Data Sources

This report was created basing on data provided by Picodi.com, a global discounts provider existing since 2010 and Black-Friday.Global, a website dedicated to Black Friday deals that 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.