Black Friday sales are an established part of the Irish retail calendar, as demonstrated by a Bank of Ireland report which shows spending by its customers on the day was up 6.8% on last year.
Overall spending in the month of November was up 5.6% compared to the same month in 2023.
The report found Cyber Monday is having less impact, with purchases down 2.7% year-on-year.
In-person sales remain popular, with about 45% of sales over the Black Friday weekend being online, roughly the same as 2023.
Discounts during the Black Friday period are now common across sectors but it is more closely associated with retailers and certain categories, particularly electrical goods and clothing.
This is borne out by the November data as clothing and footwear (+30%) and electrical goods (+26%) were both up sharply from October. The day of Black Friday itself is important for electrical goods sales, with approximately double spent on that day compared to a typical November day.
Clothing also got a boost, but sales are more spread out during the weeks leading up to Black Friday.
Other segments which appear to get a Black Friday increase included cosmetic stores, furniture and home furnishings and department stores.
Conall Mac Coille, Chief Economist, Bank of Ireland said spending on Black Friday bodes well for Irish businesses as the Christmas period in November and December is a key time, and can account for over a quarter of total spending for the year.
“The overall increase in November spending, supported by a range of factors including high employment levels and low inflation, is a positive sign for the economy during this important Q4 period.”
Social spending, which includes entertainment and restaurants, increased by 7.3% year on year.
Services spending was down 5.3%, hit by a fall in spending on key services like accommodation and airline travel.
Spending in restaurants fell last month, by 1.8% compared to October, though it was up solidly year-on-year, by 9%, and spending in this sector should be helped in December by the Christmas party season.
The increase in spending during November indicated by Bank of Ireland data bodes well for the economy during the key Q4 period, according to Mr MacCoille.
“Recently released Q3 GDP data showed that personal consumption in nominal terms was up 4.2% in the year and 1.7% in real terms.
“There should be plenty of tailwinds for consumer spending this quarter, the domestic economy is growing, employment is at record high of 2.8m and unemployment is low at 4.1% in November.”
Real incomes are growing again with weekly earnings up 5.3% year-on-year in Q3 and annual CPI inflation at 1% in November.
He said, however, “consumers do appear cautious as global uncertainty is subduing consumer confidence, which was 74.1 in November lower than pre-Covid levels, and the household saving ratio remains elevated at 14% in Q3”.
Article Source – Spending by BOI customers up 6.8% on Black Friday – RTE
