The four-day Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BF-CM) event generates 20-30% of holiday spending, consistently outperforming the broader November-to-December retail period in both transaction volume and revenue.

It is now a clear competitor to the festive season with sales up 3.5% year-on-year as of November 2025 and this narrow four-day period has become one of the most concentrated and commercially decisive retail experiences of the year.

Building on this momentum in 2026 requires that online rethink its strategy, and instore maintain its focus on wedding discounts to experiences.

BF-CM has moved past a year-end promotion designed to clear stock and generate noise to a stress test for how well a retailer understands pricing, fulfilment, inventory, digital performance, store execution and customer intent.

Within a holiday retail season that runs for nearly eight weeks, BF-CM consistently generates roughly a tenth of total transactions and revenue, making it one of the most strategically important moments in the retail calendar.

In 2025, the Ecentric Black Friday Index found that BF-CM accounted for 9.08% of online holiday transaction volume and 10.6% of online holiday revenue, compared with 9.61% of online transaction volume and 11.29% of online holiday revenue in 2024.

While online share softened slightly year-on-year, the window still captured a disproportionate portion of festive activity in just four days.

Physical retail showed the opposite trend. In-store transaction share increased from 10.64% of holiday transactions in 2024 to 10.75% in 2025, while in-store revenue share rose from 11.3% to 11.52% over the same period.

Revenue share grew faster than transaction share, which suggests either bigger baskets, stronger product mix or more effective conversion of high-value purchases in-store.

It points specifically to categories such as appliances, electronics and fashion, where consumers still want to see, touch or try products before committing.

Physical retail is not outperforming digital because consumers have turned away from ecommerce. It is outperforming when retailers give shoppers a compelling reason to show up.

South African shoppers still value tactile, experiential instore shopping when the trip feels worthwhile. Instore gains are likely linked to the retail sector prioritising events, exclusives, demonstrations and merchandising that turn stores into destinations rather than just transaction points.

This is a crucial strategic insight for 2026 because the question is moving away from how deep the discount towards what kind of engagement actually drives profitable conversion.

Retailers can’t rely on price cuts alone as they’re training customers to wait for the markdown. Moving forward, store-led urgency, exclusivity and theatre are creating reasons to buy now, in person and at potentially higher basket values.

Online, the execution looks different. Digital has to win on precision – a move away from blanket percentage discounts towards tiered offers, bundles and add-ons and buy-more-save-more structures that rebuild average order value.

Sharper segmentation with promotions tailored to new customers, returning customers, high-value segments and lapsed shoppers will offer deeper potential rewards rather than channel-wide discounting that dilutes margin for minimal gain.

This reflects a broader strategic change in retail where the strongest operators are directing the right offer to the right customer at the right moment, with the least friction possible.

That friction point is increasingly important as well. Consumers are moving between online and instore environments fluidly.

They’re using digital to research and compare but still converting in physical locations for high-consideration purchases or where exclusives make the trip worthwhile.

Retailers shouldn’t rely on one channel to heavily as it will leave them exposed, instead synchronise inventory, pricing, fulfilment and promotions across both.

Stores can also become omnichannel hubs for click-and-collect, returns and service interactions that create upsell opportunities.

BF_CM is much more than a shopping event. It is a test of whether a retailer can align customer experience with commercial discipline under pressure.

The data in the report shows that the market is still growing. Festive-period online transactions rose 13.4%, online revenue rose 5.7%, in-store transactions increased 6.0% and in-store revenue rose by 5.2%.

This event has become a strategy test for South African retail, concentrating demand, exposing operational weakness, punishing lazy discounting and rewarding retailers that understand the economics of engagement.

In 2026, retailers will thrive if they use data to build better experiences, more interesting offers and stronger conversions across every touchpoint.

*The Ecentric Black Friday Index measures the proportion of total holiday retail activity that takes place during the four-day Black Friday to Cyber Monday window, using transaction data processed through the Ecentric payment gateway across both online and in-store retail channels. 

The index compares this activity against the full holiday trading period from 1 November to 24 December to determine how concentrated spending becomes during the BF-CM event.

“And that’s the job of a good payments service provider, keeping the technical complexity invisible, while delivering the service in an industry benchmark time of 130 milliseconds,” explains Bosman.

He says that a decade ago, two or three seconds were considered acceptable. Today, he says, anything more than half a second causes customers to become frustrated.

“A payment provider obviously serves other businesses. In Ecentric’s case, we serve retailers. In fact, we have settled more than R10 trillion in payments, including the card payments for two-thirds of JSE-listed retailers. But what this means is that we also serve the customers of our customers – millions of people expecting, demanding, near-instant payments that work as they should, every time,” says Bosman.

He adds that while the service is designed to be invisible, it is highly complex.

“There’s far more going on than simply tapping a card or hovering a smartphone over a payment device. There’s an entire ecosystem of highly complex steps taking place. Every step in this process needs to happen so quickly that the wait is almost imperceptible to the customer,” says Bosman.

Describing the “anatomy of a payment”, Bosman provides a simple analogy for a complex process. “Those 130 milliseconds encompass the anatomy of a payment. The simplest analogy in layman’s terms is to imagine an onion. Each layer, from the outermost to the core, is critical in ensuring the merchant’s customer walks away happy, keeping the merchant happy.

“The layers encompass legitimising the card and user the second they interact with the till, world-standard encryption and security for data travelling over the internet, authorisation and fraud checks, clearing and settlement between the customer’s bank and the retailer’s bank, all of which is underpinned by extensive compliance and ongoing certification,” says Bosman.

Bosman explains that the steps covered in those layers include the customer tapping, swiping or inserting at the terminal, the terminal sending transaction data through the payment switch, which then routes the encrypted request to the customer’s bank (which is called the issuing bank), the issuing bank then checks for funds and runs fraud and security checks before sending an approval or decline response back to the payment switch which, in turn, returns the response to the terminal.

If declined, the transaction ends with a decline code, but if it is approved, the transaction details are sent to the retailer’s bank, which is called the acquiring bank, for clearing and settlement.

“So, in a very short amount of time, and preferably within those 130 milliseconds, there are a lot of complicated steps which all form part of the ‘onion’ analogy, they happen in layers.

The core of the onion is ensuring all these steps occur within a payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS)-certified environment.

This is a global security standard. Certification with this standard is not a once-off process. It requires annual, intensive audits and covers people, process and technology. Additional certifications, such as those for devices and ongoing validation, are required. It is this continuous compliance that underpins trust and allows the payment ecosystem to function securely.

“When this doesn’t go according to plan, the customer is frustrated, the merchant is unhappy, and the reputation of the payment service provider suffers. And so, it is important for retailers to carefully consider the partner they choose to work with when planning their payments. A lot can go well, but equally, a lot can go wrong in just milliseconds,” says Bosman.

• Black Friday to Cyber Monday remains the most powerful retail window of the year
• As a share of total holiday transactions, total transactions from Black Friday weekend surged 30.4%, equating to the few days making up 10.3% of the total holiday period transactions
• e-Commerce still leads the charge
• In-store commerce is making a comeback. In-store revenue as a proportion of total revenue saw a 109.4% surge, doubling from 5.3% to 11.1% of total holiday revenue
• Omnichannel and data-led strategies set leaders apart

As the country waits with bated breath to see what the cabinet settles on for a national budget, which will have a big impact on the economic mood of the country, consumer confidence and investor sentiment, retailers are already planning for a bumper 2025 Black Friday and holiday season.

Black Friday, by its very nature, generates hype in the media and among retailers. However, a new index proves it is not hollow hype.

South Africa’s first formal Black Friday Index reveals that Black Friday to Cyber Monday remains the most powerful retail window of the year, according to World Wide Worx and Ecentric Payment Systems.

The index shows unequivocally that compared to the full holiday period from the beginning of November to Christmas Eve, Black Friday to Cyber Monday remains the clear peak shopping window, with significantly higher transaction and revenue growth than the rest of the season.

The Ecentric 2024 Black Friday Index, which was conducted in a partnership between Ecentric Payment Solutions and World Wide Worx, is based on analysis of data from retail transactions flowing through the Ecentric payment gateway. Payment data analysed excludes that of the grocery sector. Ecentric processes 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serves as a trusted payments partner to 65% of JSE-listed retailers – serving their in-store, online, mobile and omnichannel payments requirements.

The index was compiled by independent technology research house World Wide Worx. It measures transaction volume and value generated from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, as a proportion of total holiday retail.

As a share of total holiday sales, online transactions for the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period, as a proportion of total transactions surged by 30.4%, rising from 7.9% to 10.3% of total holiday sales. Online revenue as a proportion climbed by 23.8%, increasing from 10.1% to 12.5% of total holiday revenue. In-store transactions as a proportion of total transactions grew by 15.4%, rising from 9.1% to 10.5% of holiday sales. In-store revenue as a proportion of total revenue saw a 109.4% surge, doubling from 5.3% to 11.1% of total holiday revenue.

Rory Bosman, Ecentric’s chief sales & marketing officer says the findings are good news for retailers as they provide telling insights that can prepare retailers to make the most of the critical retail period.

“The index makes it clear that the Black Friday weekend stands out from the full holiday shopping period, which runs from the beginning of November to Christmas Eve, in both sales volume and growth. The latest data confirms that retailers who capitalised on this peak moment saw the biggest gains, with online and in-store revenue outperforming the rest of the holiday season,” he says.

Of particular interest, is how dramatically the holiday shopping period is shifting. While in 2023 the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period reflected a small upward bump in transaction volume, the biggest shopping days came a week later.

“This is different in 2024,” says Bosman. “The Black Friday to Cyber Monday period saw a massive leap in transaction volume, compared to a slightly above-average level a week later.”

Key insights to capitalise on Black Friday in 2025 and beyond 

Bosman says there are a number of important lessons for retailers. The first is that e-commerce is more important than ever.

“Retailers seeking to make the most of Black Friday need to prioritise seamless digital experiences and mobile optimisation and exclusive deals,” he says.

Importantly, the 2024 Black Friday index proved that in-store retail is enjoying a strong revival. Bosman says that the retailers who benefit the most will be those that invest in immersive experiences such as interactive shopping, festive atmospheres and high-value promotions to attract shoppers.

He says consumers demonstrated they respond well to positive in-store experiences. Technology such as augmented and virtual reality could play a pivotal role here.

Omnichannel integration is non-negotiable, he says.

“The insights gained from the index tell us that online and in-store integration must be seamless, from inventory to promotions. The retailers that do the best are those that blend online and in-store efforts with consistent messaging, and, importantly, seamless experiences.”

Bosman says that data-driven personalisation holds immense potential for retailers seeking to set themselves apart from their competition. “AI-powered recommendations and targeted deals will set leaders apart. It is vital, in 2025 and beyond, that retailers use data for targeted promotions and flexible fulfillment options.”

Get all the insights by downloading the full report. 

Physical retail is as important as ever, which means that in-person payments continue to play a pivotal role in South Africa’s retail landscape.

In light of this, continued investment has been directed toward in-person payment innovation, a trend that is expected to persist well into the foreseeable future.

In-person payments refer to payments that occur in a store, where the merchant and the customer are both physically present. Unlike online payments that happen through a digital interface, in-person payments typically involve hardware such as mobile point of sale devices.

These devices allow customers to tap, swipe or insert their cards, or they enable contactless or mobile wallet payments.

A closer look at where the sector is going

2024 has seen a marked move towards a true omnichannel experience, where in-person and online payments are integrated.

This convergence of in-person and digital payments, facilitated by innovative mobile point-of-sale solutions, represents a key evolution in the broader payments landscape.

This is a trend that Ecentric has prioritised because there is definite demand from merchants who want to offer experiences that seamlessly blend online and offline payment capabilities.

Financial inclusion is an important theme in the payments industry, where innovative partnerships give merchants and customers more opportunities to transact.

To this end, Ecentric partnered with Flash Group to integrate 1Voucher into its payment ecosystem, effectively opening doors for cash customers who’ve historically been excluded from digital payments.

1Voucher is a prepaid payment voucher that converts cash into digital currency. Expect to see far more innovation as merchants seek to tap into the emerging market’s massive potential.

However, innovation around financial inclusion extends beyond just in-store payment solutions, with use cases limited only by imagination.

In an effort to formalise and digitise the minibus taxi industry, the Wealth On Wheels (WOW) initiative, led by the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Cooperative Limited in partnership with Ecentric and FORUS Digital, leverages innovative technologies such as digital cash payments and distributed ledger technology to help minibus owners enhance operations and maximise their revenue, while creating a safer and more secure environment for the travelling public.

Cryptocurrency, and being able to accept cryptocurrency payments, is certainly also a hot topic. It is definitely gaining some traction in the market but it is not yet a major driver in South Africa.

Payment service providers with an eye on the future are no doubt building partnerships to enable cryptocurrency payments.

While there isn’t massive demand yet from merchants, there is a very vocal customer base demanding it, but this segment is still relatively small.

Regulation has had an impact here. Every crypto exchange or crypto payment enabler – anything to do with crypto – now needs a license. Choosing the right partners in this space will be crucial.

What was the preserve of the largest merchants before, loyalty and  rewards programmes are definitely on the upswing in the mid-market retail space.

Looking at the economic benefits around customer attraction and retention, mid-market players have recognised that they are big enough to introduce a loyalty and rewards programme.

This demand will continue to grow as more retailers seek to build loyalty in an increasingly competitive environment. Facilitating the acceptance of these programs as tender for payments, is a key component of the payments service provider offering.

It is clear that there is a definite surge in innovation and alternative payment methods. One of the consequences of this is an increased need to be on top of security – fraud detection and other security measures need to keep pace with innovation.

Comprehensive Approaches to Fraud Detection and Prevention in Contemporary Organizations

A good way to see it is that each new payment method provides a new door and these new doors need to be secured with increased diligence.

This underscores the need for payment providers such as Ecentric to stay well-ahead of the curve on security and compliance in order to build trust and confidence in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.

“Ecentric is committed to continuously innovating the In Person Payments platform to maintain our leadership in the industry and meet evolving customer needs. Moving forward, we plan to build on the foundation of our recent improvements by leveraging the scalability and flexibility of our Cloud architecture. This will enable us to introduce new features and services more rapidly while maintaining the highest standards of security and performance,” says Gary Bowers, product manager at Ecentric.

Ecentric processes a fifth of all card payments in South Africa and is a trusted partner to two thirds of JSE-listed retailers, serving their in-store, online, mobile and omnichannel payment requirements.

According to Bowers, the company found that being able to provide a variety of ways to integrate demands significant enhancements to its Platform:

“Prior to the acquisition of Thumbzup, it was challenging for us to focus on stability, scalability and efficiency.

However, Ecentric’s aim is always to provide a reliable service to its merchants, thus the team set out to deliver exactly that post acquisition.

The technologies that the teams have implemented allow for a flexible and sturdy platform which supports a modular approach to certain merchant requirements,” says Bowers.

In 2023, Ecentric acquired the IP, people, and customers of innovative technology payment solutions company Thumbzup, to make a significant play into the broader retail sector, and reach more national retailers in the tier two retail sector, while being a trusted partner to service providers supporting SMMEs.

Greater precision and speed

With the solution now offered across all acquiring banks in South Africa, improvements carried out on the platform include an upgraded caching service to improve overall system performance; a database re-architecture and optimisation to increase transaction processing speed and reliability; implementing real-time data streaming for more robust reporting and analytics; introducing real-time notifications and seamless integration with external systems; and new features that provide enhanced payment security and flexibility, such as card-not-present refunds and card-present tokenization.

“We will continue to integrate cutting-edge technologies, such as enhancing our use of real-time data analytics powered by Kafka streaming, to deliver even more insightful reporting and predictive capabilities. This will allow our customers to make data-driven decisions with greater precision and speed,” says Bowers.

The ongoing upgrades to the technology stack, including the latest versions of development frameworks and tools, will ensure that Ecentric’s platform remains compatible with the latest industry standards and customer requirements, Bowers says.

The company is also exploring opportunities to further enhance its integration capabilities, making it easier for customers to connect with external systems and services through improved APIs and webhook functionalities.

He adds that payments, specifically integrated payments, have matured extensively the last few years, and Payments Service Providers have eagerly sought to provide their merchants an easy means to enable Card Present processing. Feedback from merchants has mostly been that the overhead from scheme mandates are typically extensive, and one of the company’s goals is to obfuscate those complications as much as possible.

“We will incorporate how customer insights have driven innovations that support both the platform’s growth and Ecentric’s market leadership. Our focus will remain on providing seamless, secure, and scalable solutions that drive growth for our customers and keep Ecentric at the forefront of innovation in the payments industry,” says Bowers.

Together, they will focus on expanding access to financial services, particularly through the integration of 1Voucher—a prepaid payment voucher that converts cash into digital currency.

This partnership aims to create greater opportunities for both merchants and consumers, driving financial inclusion in South Africa, by making it easier for cash-based customers to engage in the modern economy.

Speaking about the partnership, Ruan Geyser, general manager at 1Voucher, highlighted the significance of this collaboration:

“We’ve always aimed to make people’s lives easier through technology, and this partnership with Ecentric allows us to extend that vision even further.

Ecentric’s integration with several of South Africa’s largest retail partners positions our partnership to provide valuable access to these markets.

By integrating 1Voucher into Ecentric’s payment ecosystem, we’re opening doors for cash customers who’ve historically been excluded from digital payments.”

With over two decades of experience in South Africa’s informal retail market, Flash Group has built a network that serves more than 25 million cash-based consumers.

Driven by a vision for a more inclusive and connected economy, the company expands opportunities for businesses and cash-based customers by providing innovative payment solutions and services.

This collaboration with Ecentric is another step toward expanding their reach and offering even more value to merchants and consumers alike.

Together, the aim is to work to meet the changing needs of customers, and ultimately drive product and service access to everyone, everywhere.

Inge Oosthuizen, Product Owner at Ecentric added:

“Partnering with Flash Group aligns with our mission to deliver innovative, secure, and accessible payment solutions, meeting consumers where they are at. By offering 1Voucher as a payment mechanism, we’re empowering consumers who prefer to use cash while providing merchants with access to an untapped customer base.”

The technical integration is designed to be straightforward, opening up new customer segments without requiring significant changes to existing point-of-sale infrastructure.

The user experience is created to allow individuals to digitise their cash through purchasing a 1Voucher at any retailer within the 1Voucher network.

Subsequently, they can use their 1Voucher 16-digit PIN to complete in-store transactions, without the need for a bank account or credit/debit card.

When using 1Voucher as a payment method in-store, consumers benefit from enhanced security, as there’s no need to carry cash. Instead, they can rely on their 1Voucher slip, which holds the equivalent value.

Additionally, customers can effortlessly send a 1Voucher to loved ones at no cost by sharing the 16-digit PIN via SMS, WhatsApp, email, or the 1ForYou app, eliminating the transaction fees often associated with cash transfers.

Ecentric will also be enabling its merchants to accept 1Voucher as tender online in the future.

With Ecentric already processing 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serving as a trusted payments partner to 65% of the JSE listed retailers, this collaboration represents a broader movement towards bridging the gap between cash and digital payments in South Africa, offering secure, convenient, and inclusive solutions for all.

For merchants, integrating 1Voucher as a payment option means reaching new customers who were previously reliant on cash-based transactions and also provides consumers with a safe, cash-free way to make in-store purchases.

As the collaboration unfolds, both companies emphasise that this is just the beginning of their efforts to innovate in the payments space.

They plan to continue exploring ways to make transactions more accessible and convenient for all South Africans.

This initiative, led by the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Cooperative Limited (ECTTC) – the business arm of the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), in partnership with Ecentric Payment Systems and FORUS Digital, aims to revolutionise the local minibus taxi industry.

The initiative seeks to use innovative technologies such as digital cash payments and blockchain to help minibus owners enhance operations and maximise their revenue, while creating a safer and more secure environment for the travelling public.

The WOW platform will introduce digital cash payments, advanced fleet and vehicle management systems with GPS, camera monitoring, fuel rebates, and a modernised scholar transport system.

The Initiative’s exhibition at the 42nd annual Southern African National Transport Conference, which took place between 8 and 11 July, included two taxis serving as technology demonstrators, and was awarded the best exhibition stand that “WOWed the conference”.

The innovations on display as well as the award were a first for a solution emerging from within the taxi industry.

“It has been a journey of over a year with the WOW team, but it has been a longer journey for Ecentric, as we started about five years ago with assessing the industry’s needs. To see the culmination of the journey at this conference is a wonderful achievement, and we are excited about it. A lot of work has been done to ensure alignment between all aspects of this project, including people, process, technology, legal and financial. This is by no means the end, and there is still a lot of hard work to be done – but it is legacy defining,” says Hassen Sheik, CEO of Ecentric Payment Systems.

End-to-end digital ecosystem

The WOW Initiative will go into production with ~1 000 regular minibus taxis in the Eastern Cape province, being fitted with necessary equipment, including GPS trackers, cameras, Wi-Fi access points and devices needed to accept digital cash payments.

Other taxis will be implemented with a similar solution, for use as scholar transport; the only difference being children using wristbands (with their guardian information stored on them), rather than needing cards.

The objective is to onboard the taxis of the Eastern Cape. Two further launch projects for digital cash and fuel rebates are earmarked for launch in the Western Cape.

Sheik explains that WOW is not just a payments solution, but an end-to-end ecosystem digitisation journey that helps formalise the minibus taxi industry while ensuring the safety of drivers, commuters and the public.

In addition, taxi operators will be able to monetise the captive audience within their vehicles by offering value added services, such as selling airtime or prepaid electricity, or allowing people to pay their bills without having to go to a retail store.

Taxis within the Initiative may also be equipped with “WOW-Fi”, which offers commuters free Wi-Fi while earning additional revenue for operators through displaying advertisements.

“The WOW Initiative has taken a bottom-up approach. We have engaged industry first in order to understand their pain points and to look at how the private sector can help tackle those challenges. Through this process of collaboration, we have come up with this ecosystem that talks to what they need. The technology is a by-product – the key is that it is solving a problem for industry,” says Sheik.

For taxi owners, Wealth on Wheels offers continuous GPS tracking giving them real-time information on how and where their taxis are being used, how many passengers are being carried, and how much the vehicle is earning.

The intention is to empower the owners by using data and transparency to make informed decisions, such as identifying which are the most profitable routes and at which times.

Ultimately, having this data – recorded on immutable blockchain ledgers – enables taxi commuters to potentially benefit from government rebates in the future, as well as fuel savings for owners.

Three cameras in the vehicles enhance safety on the road whilst optionally alerting owners of incidents (speeding, drowsiness, cell phone usage etc…) via an App.

Paul Wenborn, business development and mobility lead at Ecentric, highlights that WOW is a collaboration between the taxi industry and various private sector partners including Ecentric (payments & program management), FORUS (distributed ledger technology, platform architecture and financial model), BATSAMAYI (platform apps), True Value Systems (GPS tracking, comms and other hardware) and CYCLE Payments Africa (Point of Sale for informal merchants).

“The WOW platform meets the needs of all stakeholders, including Merchants, Assistants, Drivers, Owners, TOCs, Associations, and local, provincial, and national government, with a special focus on delighting Commuters.”

Industry-driven technology solution

Dr Nokuthula Mbebe, CEO of ECTTC, echoed Sheik’s sentiments by adding that there can be no development of the local minibus taxi industry without the participation of industry stakeholders itself.

“The taxi industry knows best when it comes to the requirements and challenges that need to be met, and needs to be in charge of finding a solution. There is a positive attitude toward this initiative as it is owned by the taxi industry and there is a willingness to make it work. Participants at the conference were pleasantly surprised to learn how a big technology initiative with tremendous benefits for South Africa and beyond can be driven by the taxi industry,” she says.

She adds that ECTTC has conducted numerous roadshows across the Eastern Cape in order to ‘test the waters’ and that the response has been positive, while there is also growing interest from other provinces. Beyond the initial rollout in Gqeberha and Lusikisiki, the organisation aims to implement the WOW Initiative in five other districts in the province: OR Tambo, Joe Gqabi, Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani and Amathole.

Mbebe explains that minibus taxi operators are welcoming the solution as it brings transparency to their operations, where in the past they were entirely reliant on the driver to record how much revenue was being earned.

Taxi drivers also stand to benefit from the WOW initiative; where previously their jobs were unsecure, the formalisation of the taxi industry will see them having employment contracts and being graded and paid accordingly.

On the other hand, customers are also happy as continuous camera monitoring inside the taxis create a safe and secure environment for commuters and scholars.

“We are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution where everything is being digitised, and as such we as the industry needed a solution that would be safe and secure, while introducing cashless payments. However, you cannot have a cashless system without formalisation of the minibus taxi industry first,” concludes Mbebe.

At the same time, says Wesley Fetter, Product Manager at Ecentric, consumers went for everyday items instead of luxuries, indicating that they had been waiting for deals on daily needs and, perhaps, stocking up on non-perishable goods.

“The rand value on average over the extended Black Friday period was – in real terms that strips out inflation – behind the past few years. This shows the pressure consumers are under,” says Fetter.

Companies that use Ecentric’s payment dashboard to monitor sales, which includes South Africa’s largest retailers, processed more than R1.1 billion in deals. However, there was a 5.06% decline in transaction volume, and, in real terms, value dropped 12%.

“We saw retailers start offering sale prices ahead of the traditional 24 November date,” says Fetter, “which also led to a shift in trends when it comes to peak days”.

Online and retail sales both peaked on November 25, the day after Black Friday. This is an indication that people wanted to avoid the queues that are typical of Black Friday.

Statistics South Africa’s latest retail data print, published in mid-October, indicates that sales in consumer-facing goods declined 0.5% year-on-year in August.

However, this is not as much as expected, based on a Bloomberg survey indicating a consensus of a 1.2% slump predicted by economists.

“While we wait for StatsSA to publish the next set of figures for October on 13 December 2023, the best window we currently have on how consumers are faring in this high interest rate environment is data from one of the biggest sale periods of the year,” says Fetter.

Just more than two thirds of our gross domestic product is made up by consumer spending.

Shifting online

2023’s shopping trends also saw a marked shift towards online shopping. In fact, consumers not only used virtual shops to price check, but also preferred to buy big ticket items online. “This is likely an indication of South Africa’s ecommerce growth,” says Fetter.

According to World Wide Worx, in its latest report on online sales, “Online Retail in South Africa 2022,” conducted by it in association with Mastercard, ecommerce growth in 2022, at 30%, took the value of the market to R55 billion.

This, the report says, is indicative of the post-COVID-19 change in shopping habits, with people sticking to the trend of buying goods that are delivered to their door. Andrew Wilmot, Customer Experience Executive at Ecentric, notes that there was more online growth between 2021 and 2022 than this year.

Ahead of next year, retailers need to focus on offering more deals as South Africa continues to battle to right the economy in the face of daily loadshedding, says Wilmot.

“Whichever way you look at it, South Africans are battling and want more value for their money,” concludes Wilmot.

[Featured Image Credit]

As retailers geared up for one of the top retail weekends in South Africa, they need to ensure that they have real-time access to their sales data.

With the economic slump that South Africa is going through – slow growth and high interest rates – it is highly likely that this year’s November sale will be a bumper month as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are days that span the 11th month of the year, sometimes even creeping into October.

However, items that can be expected in shopping trolleys are not likely to be luxuries, but rather products that consumers have been holding off on buying, says Wesley Fetter, Product Manager at Ecentric Payment Systems.

Ecentric’s Cyber Monday dashboard offers insightful analytical data in real time transactions across online and in-store channels, allowing retailers to be agile when it comes to determining trends at any given time.

Ecentric processes over 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serves as a trusted payments partner to 65% of the JSE-listed retailers, which allows it to collect a representative amount of anonymous data and share key insights.

“The week around 24 November 2023, as well as Cyber Monday, which kicks off on 27 November, shows some interesting statistics and trends”, says Fetter. “We’ll be able to provide everyone with a holistic understanding of South Africans’ shopping behaviour, and this is what sets us apart.”

The total transaction volume for Black Friday 2023 was 1,691,556 transactions, with a total transaction value of R 828,665,255.00 at 4pm on Friday, across online and in-store channels. Notably, the largest transaction value for Black Friday this year was R 209,662.00, with Debit & Credit cards coming out top as the preferred payment channel, including Mastercard, Visa, Diner’s Club, and American Express. Private Label Cards and Instant EFT by Ecentric also joined the top payment methods for Black Friday 2023.

The quickest transaction on 24 November took just 51 milliseconds, while the average transactions per minute were 1,764, with an average of R 490 per transaction.

Given that online sales are growing exponentially, Cyber Monday is also a key focus area for Ecentric, says Fetter. “Online Retail in South Africa 2022”, a study conducted by World Wide Worx with Mastercard, and released towards the end of last year showed that virtual sales grew 30% in 2022, off the back of a 40% gain the previous year. Online sales are now worth R55 billion and growing exponentially.

“While the segment is small in comparison to traditional outlets, its growth pattern is gaining and we expect virtual sales, which had a significant boost through home deliveries thanks to COVID-19, to continue to grow. The rapid increase in home deliveries during the pandemic led to lifestyle changes for many, who now just order in food, groceries, appliances, and other items,” he says.

“People still want to go into stores and have a look around,” says Fetter. “They want to try on clothing, see the physical size of an air fryer, and generally shop around.” South African retailers start offering special deals weeks before the big days, and buying patterns are also important, he says.

Knowing this sort of information is invaluable to merchants and provides a view of the economy as it highlights trends, he concludes.

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Teceonomy gathered that the aqusition is in a move that will benefit both business’s customers and support Ecentric’s strategy to become the dominant omnichannel player for retailers with a national footprint.

Ecentric is already known for its best-of-breed technology for what is traditionally known as Tier one enterprise customers.

It processes 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serves as a trusted payments partner to 65% of the JSE-listed retailers, serving their in-store, online, mobile and omnichannel payments requirements.

Its acquisition of Thumbzup’s IP will see it make a significant play into the broader retail sector, reaching more national retailers in the tier two retail sector, while being a trusted partner to service providers supporting SMME’s.

Ecentric CEO Hassen Sheik says that besides a perfect cultural fit around customer centricity and innovation, the deal made sense from the growth perspective.

“Ecentric is expanding locally and across Africa, and we realise that just like enterprise, more national retailers are crucial to this growth. We appreciated that to support this growth we need to have an accompanying in-store physical capability. In other words, we must be able to supply physical integration of point-of-sale devices and technology in store, which we haven’t traditionally done outside of enterprise,” he says.

Sheik adds: “We now have devices, payment software, terminal management systems, and other value-added services that we think will resonate across more national retailers, which is a natural string to our bow alongside our current product set. Besides the added reach, the deal underpins our omnichannel, fully reconciled proposition to the market. There was a beautiful synergy between what they have been doing and where we are going.”

The added competency in Ecentric now gives new customers the opportunity to deal with one service provider across all their payment requirements, both instore and online, with a single reconciliation in the back office, while the added features also allow Ecentric to augment its current customers’ offerings.

Along with the IP, devices and technology stack, Thumbzup’s team is being fully integrated into the Ecentric business. “The technical development capability that the team brings to our business means that time-to-market from a customer point of view is radically shortened. The staff we acquired are highly advanced at integrating till software with payment devices, drastically reducing the time spent on implementations,” says Sheik.

Beyond this, Sheik says that there are currently unannounced developments that the former Thumbzup – now Ecentric – team have been busy developing which will enable Ecentric to reach POS partners for integration across many retailers.

Another tactical shift enabled by the deal is the ability to actively participate with best-of-breed Android payment capabilities. “With this deal we don’t just have access to the last mile, but also many more android devices. With the advent of Android in the payment device world, we see much more flexibility and greater agility to bring on services beyond payments. This deal allows us to participate strongly and directly with some of the best android capabilities in the market,” explains Sheik.

He says the acquisition was a natural step as it is aligned with the Ecentric strategy. “We want to be the pre-eminent service provider to retail, supporting their consumers and the way they pay wherever they work, play or live. The skills and IP we have onboarded and integrated into our business with this deal opens these doors for Ecentric, while providing a compelling proposition for customers.”