Black Friday increased – Black Week decreased

E-commerce during Black Week decreased this year by 2.2 percent compared to last year, while Black Friday – which accounted for a third of the week's sales – increased by 2.4 percent, according to a report from Prisjakt and Svea Bank.

Prisjakt and Svea Bank write that it is positive for consumers that the proportion of products with lower prices during the sale period has increased, while the average discount was marginally lower, and that Friday continues to be the day with the most price-reduced goods and the most discounts.

– E-commerce is having a tough time right now and that's why it's nice to see that Black Friday is increasing. Even though Swedes have made fewer purchases, they have spent more per order. At the same time, the remaining time period has decreased slightly. Consumers are more price-conscious and thoughtful now, which is visible in this year's figures, says Emma Lindgren, expert on digital consumption at Svea Bank.

This year's statistics from the price comparison site Prisjakt also show that a larger proportion of products were discounted during what is known as Black Month (November 1-24) than the previous year. However, the average discount rate has fallen. This year's average price reduction was around 20 percent, compared to previous years when it was around 22 percent. At the same time, a survey from Kantar commissioned by Prisjakt shows that consumers expected discounts of an average of 37 percent.

– Prisjakt's data shows that there were more products on sale this year, but that the price reductions did not meet consumers' expectations. In other words, it may be that people were hoping to make even bigger bargains and therefore waited until Black Friday itself, says Oscar Hagman, consumer analyst at Prisjakt.

Fewer but more expensive products were purchased

Svea Bank does not say how much money Swedes spent online shopping, but says that what stands out is that the order value during Black Friday rose by an average of 7.4 percent per purchase and that the most popular time to shop online on Black Friday is 9:50 p.m.

Svea Bank states that the percentage change in turnover during Black Friday 2023 compared to 2022 was 2.4 percent, while the change in the number of transactions was -4.7 percent. Fewer but more expensive products were thus purchased.

The corresponding figures for Black Week were -2.2 percent (turnover) and 0 percent (transactions) and for Black Month the result was -1.8 percent (turnover) and -4.4 percent (transactions).

The data is taken from all popular payment methods (debit cards, Swish, direct banking, invoice and installment payment), which together represent 93 percent of the digital payment market in Sweden, Svea Bank states.

Among the year's most trending products during Black Week are refrigerators, where search interest increased by 91 percent compared to last year, according to Pricejakt.

Ehandel.se writes that the total turnover during Black Week 2023 was a little more than SEK 7.9 billion, which is close to last year's SEK 8 billion, and the figures come from Svensk Handel.

The e-barometer points to Christmas

Postnord writes in its E-barometer the following about this year's Black Friday: Since 2018, around three in ten Swedish consumers have responded that they plan to shop during Black Week (source E-barometer Black Week and Christmas shopping 2023). Since e-commerce has grown over time, the above number means that there are more people who plan to shop during Black Week, even if the proportion is the same as before.

The economic situation is also doing its part to strengthen shopping during Black Week. According to the E-barometer, the proportion who choose to postpone their purchases until Black Week – for financial reasons – is almost three times as large this year compared to 2022. Here too, the younger generation is most prominent, but the group that accounts for the largest increase in terms of planned Black Week shopping is the parents of young children. This is one of the target groups that has been most affected by the bad economy and is most sensitive to economic fluctuations. Saving money on necessary purchases by making them during Black Week becomes both obvious and logical.

It is also important to point out the importance of Christmas for an increasingly strong action during Black Week. More consumers are simply making their Christmas gift purchases earlier. ”Why not do them at a discounted price a couple of weeks before the Christmas stress?” This has been the case for many decades in the US and more recently the strategy has also reached us in the Nordic countries.

Text: Ola Larsson

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