PayU GPO, the leading online payment service provider operating in over 30+ emerging markets, today releases new data on Black Friday’s impact on the African e-commerce landscape.
Despite overall marginal decline compared to 2022, some merchants and industries saw an increase, such as beauty, fashion, travel, entertainment, and electronics. As a result, Black Friday itself spurred an 83% increase in e-commerce sales compared to the 2023 daily average across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The average basket size also increased by 11% year on year.
This year, merchants made a strategic decision to extend the sales period from simply ‘Black Friday’ to ‘Black Friday week’ – inclusive of Cyber Monday. This extended promotion period led to the average transaction value increasing by 13% compared to the year’s daily average between 20-23rd November.
The data also showed that many shoppers waited for the biggest bargains on the day, with a shopping frenzy reached between midnight and 01:00 on Black Friday.
Fintech Insights: Hyper-personalization in Banking: The Tech Journey to Serving a Segment of One
Consumers also showed a strong preference towards paying for items via card with usage increasing to 85%. 58% of shoppers also purchased items on their phones, up 7% from last year – demonstrating the importance of offering mobile-native payment solutions. Furthermore, we saw that 50% of consumers opted for frictionless card payments including PayU’s exclusive seamless card solution and the newly introduced Click2Pay. The landscape also reveals encouraging acceptance of API-based EFT payments, exemplified by the popularity of options like Capitec Pay.
Across all payment channels, PayU GPO approval rates increased, reaching 89% across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Karen Nadasen, CEO, PayU South Africa comments: “In Africa, where consumers are grappling with soaring interest rates and increased costs, shopping events like this create a win-win for both consumers and merchants. While payment methods continue to evolve each year, it’s fantastic to see consumers adopting saved digital cards, and benefitting from the additional security they bring. This trend stands as a promising precursor to the potential uptake of PayShap once “Request to Pay” makes its entrance into the market.”
Read More About Fintech Interviews: How Blockchain-Powered Ecosystems Are Poised to Transform the Agricultural Sector
[To share your insights with us, please write to pghosh@itechseries.com ]
