The Black Friday bargain fest has led to an unprecedented shopping frenzy this year. More than 300 million euros extra was sold than on a normal Friday.
This is evident from data from the Dutch Payments Association. The Dutch went wild especially online. The Dutch Payments Association made 55 percent more online payments and a 70 percent higher turnover than on a normal Friday. 15 percent more was bought in the shops than on a regular Friday.
Compared to 2019, the last year without corona, online payments were made more often (+ 60 percent) and for more money (+ 85 percent) on Black Friday. At the physical counter, the number of debit card payments and debit card turnover are roughly 5 percent lower this year than in 2019. “During corona times, Black Friday shifted to online and we have therefore continued to do so,” says Berend Jan Beugel of the Dutch Payments Association.
In physical stores, an estimated 20.5 million debit and credit card payments were made on Black Friday this year, for a total amount of approximately 588 million euros. An estimated 6.43 million credit card and iDEAL payments were processed online, for a total amount of approximately EUR 550 million. That’s not all Black Friday sales. There are also normal payments and tikkies.
Black Friday was originally an American shopping day in physical stores, before online stores existed. That is why American webshops came up with Cyber Monday, as an online counterpart to Black Friday. Online stores now benefit more from Black Friday than physical stores.
BlackWeek
Payment service provider Klarna also reports a record number of online sales on Black Friday. And not only on Friday, more was sold throughout the week.
According to Klarna, there was already a spike in sales at the start of ‘Black Week’, on the Monday before the Black Friday shopping spree. Back then, webshops sold 40 percent more compared to a year earlier. On Black Friday itself, sales were 28 percent higher, but in absolute numbers Black Friday was the most popular shopping day of the year on an annual basis.
“We had to wait and see how this week would go this year, because many consumers have been hit by price inflation in recent months and have therefore had to adjust their spending habits,” says director of Klarna Netherlands Wilko Klaassen. “Based on the figures, we now see that many consumers see this period of discounts as an opportunity to buy price-conscious and cheaper gifts for the holidays or to make a large purchase with a significant discount.”
Credit card issuer ICS also saw an increase in the number of transactions, both during the week and on Black Friday itself. It is striking that consumers bought less from Dutch webshops compared to last year. Web shops from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany in particular proved popular.
Protest
The day to score bargains is now also a day for companies to profile themselves. Chains such as Dille & Kamille and Beversport ‘did not participate in principle’ and warned against ‘overconsumption’. Many of these protests have failed to materialize given the record turnover.
D66 made a link with its own plan for a new eco-label for clothing. The political party called Black Friday a ‘jet-black day for our earth’. “It is aimed at us as consumers buying even more, and that also leads to higher, polluting production. We have to go against that tide and treat our earth well. Black Friday should actually be Green Friday in my opinion,” said MP Kiki Hagen.
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