Cardlink Black Friday Report 2023 : What did consumers buy in Greece

Black Friday is now over and as every year we have prepared the Cardlink Black Friday Report 2023, the result of a detailed analysis on card transactions carried out at Cardlink partner businesses.

In that direction, we have collected and present to you the most interesting insights on this year’s consumers’ behavior, both in physical stores and e-commerce: is there a new record in sales this year as expected, or the numbers are limited? Which industries stood out in terms of turnover and average transaction amount? What time did most of the transactions happen?

Black Friday 2023 vs 2022

This year too, businesses and consumers have been impatiently waiting for Black Friday, which is no longer limited to the last Friday in November, but has gained ground for good, lasting almost a month and having expanded to many additional industries besides Retail.

• The general picture is that this year’s Black Friday (24/11) the number of transactions was about the same as last year’s (25/11), with a slight change of <1%.
• Analyzing the entire week of Black Friday (20-26/11) and compared to the previous three weeks in November, the week of Black Friday saw a 17% increase in total business turnover, while the number of transactions decreased by 1%.

Black Friday top transactions per minute

If you remember last year’s…Black Saturday, this year we are back to more expected results:

• The maximum number of card transactions in one minute, at POS and online stores, was carried out on the day of Black Friday, on Friday 24/11 at 17:20, with 5,450 transactions.
• Overall, most POS transactions during the week of Black Friday took place between 12:00-13:00, while for e-commerce businesses they took place between 11:00-12:00.

Top industries in percentage increase in turnover on Black Friday

The top industries in percentage change in turnover for POS transactions on Black Friday (24/11) compared to the average of the three previous Fridays of November was household appliance stores with +242%, an industry that attracts consumers every year with catching offers. Supermarkets also had an overtrip in turnover (+208%), a new entry in the top 5 industries in turnover and an industry that we hadn’t met so far on Black Friday. We will keep an eye on it in the future, as it seems to have a lot of potential. Cosmetics (+182%) and furniture (+123%) follow also on the top list for the first time and men’s clothing as well (+92%).

Top industries in average transaction amount on Black Friday

It is with great interest that furniture stores are in the top 5 of the industries with the highest average amount (€195) in POS transactions and jewelry in 2nd place (€194). Electrical goods follow (€111), men’s clothing (€103) and restaurants (€69), as consumers seems that were in the mood to spread the festival mood and spend also in cafés, restaurants and bars.

Black Friday in e-commerce

Let’s take a look at the sales results and the top industries in percentage increase in turnover during the week of Black Friday compared to the previous three weeks of November.

• It seems that many consumers have been waiting for Black Friday to buy electrical equipment such as light bulbs and wires or Christmas lights, with the industry increasing its turnover by +255% during the week of Black Friday. Impressive! We also notice that women preferred to shop online, bringing women’s clothing in the 2nd place (+174%) and the e-shops with women’s and men’s clothing in the 3rd place (+150%). We also found that consumers chose to buy household electronics online, as well as shoes, with footwear in 5th place and a +90% increase in turnover.
• It is worth mentioning that Cyber Monday (27/11) was the second day in terms of number of online transactions for November, behind Black Friday. Compared to the average of the 3 previous Mondays (20, 13, 6 November), shopping activity on Cyber Monday was high, with a 51% increase in e-commerce turnover.

To conclude with the highlights of this year, we would like to thank all businesses for their trust in Cardlink for the transactions in their shops. We will always be by their side to turn every big challenge into a great success. Mark your calendars, Black Friday 2024 is coming on November 29, 2024!

Cardlink collects and processes data relating to card transactions carried out at partner businesses.

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