South Africans came out in their numbers to take advantage of Black Friday specials in 2022.  

For takealot.com, the annual retail calendar highlight saw the group experience a record-breaking year featuring 33% growth year-on-year in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), as well as more than three million visits on the day.  

The GMV has surpassed any other Black Friday in performance history. From a top sellers and brands perspective, we expected this Black Friday to be dominated by a demand for TVs and large appliances such as:
  • washing machines and dishwashers
  • load shedding essentials (power stations, UPS)
  • laptops
  • smartwatches
  • fragrances
  • sports equipment, and
  • household essentials.

This projection held true with these products being among the first to be snapped up when the clock struck midnight.  

The most orders placed by a single customer on the day was 58 orders and the biggest single basket value was R190 179.

The following are some more specific 'fast facts' about top sellers this Black Friday: 
  • Top item sold by units — Ballantine Finest Scotch Whiskey  
  • Top item sold by GMV —  Hisense 58' Smart TV, and 
  • The most valuable item sold — Samsung 75' Smart TV. 

We attribute the strong performance to the increased adoption of online shopping and the access it provides to retail, particularly as consumer behaviour has geared more strongly towards online buying trust, following the global pandemic.

There are also interesting 'check out' consumer patterns and behaviours to be seen in the group's Black Friday performance data; for example, there was strong site traffic seen at midnight, which showed a high level of interest in being 'first' to access the deals on offer.  

Orders were also consistently strong throughout the day with purchase peaks seen during:
  • the early morning
  • lunchtime, and
  • early evening.  

The team is proud to report that its 'First for South Africa' 24-hour Live Shopping experience was a great success both operationally and in terms of the response from customers.

Close to 10 000 South Africans joined the Live Shopping streams with over 7 000 coupons issued to shop booster deals across top brands.  

Interestingly in terms of the 24-hour Live Shopping experience, the top-selling Live Shopping event was for Hisense TVs with an offer for an extra R1 000 off the already discounted price point on the takealot.com Blue Dot Sale.

The fastest-selling stream featured Under Armour products.  

Ultimately, Black Friday has confirmed once again that South Africans actively look for unprecedented value and deals that are customised to their lifestyle and budget.

For more information, visit www.takealot.com. You can also follow Takealot on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.