One customer spent a whopping R3 million and another just over R1 million, both on travel, entertainment and accommodation.
Looking at how much money consumers spent this year on Black Friday, it is clear that this is not a phenomenon that will go out of fashion soon.
The biggest ticket item we could find was R3 million spent on travel and entertainment through PayInc, while the second most was R1.09 million, also for travel, spent on Peach Payments.
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Peach Payments processed R1.86 billion
The digital payment platform saw Black Friday sales increase by 93% compared to 2024, with R1.86 billion processed, Rahul Jain, CEO and cofounder, says. “Over the four-day weekend we processed more than 2.69 million transactions, to a total value of more than R1.86 billion.”
The largest individual transaction Peach Payments processed was for R1.09 million in the travel and accommodation sector. Jain says the retail sector alone grew its share of online sales over the four-day Black Friday weekend by 154% from last year.
“This comes against the backdrop of a 109% overall growth in rand value processed in November this year compared to November last year. Most industry sectors did well over the weekend, with financial services up 98%, leisure and entertainment up 48% and travel and accommodation up 35%.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments processed by Peach Payments over the weekend grew by 753% in rand value from 2024. ApplePay also showed a sharp increase of 549% growth in rand value year-on-year.
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PayInc recorded R3 million for travel
Online deals also drive a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, with PayInc registering an average of 934 transactions per minute and 700 per minute on Cyber Monday, Solly Bellingan, head of marketing at PayInc, says.
“Incredibly, one consumer spent R3 million in a single click on travel and entertainment. This year’s Black Friday spending showed that shoppers used this day as an opportunity to secure big-ticket items.”
PayInc also recorded a total of 202 swipes from a single in-store card to the value of almost R500 000 on Black Friday at a travel agency and tour operator. The highest spend, also for travel, was valued at almost R720 000.
Most in-store card purchases were at grocery stores, service stations and fast-food outlets.
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Payfast found consumer spent smarter, not bigger
Payfast by Network, part of Network International, a digital payments company in the Middle East and Africa, found that consumers spent smarter, not necessarily more. The average basket value reached R1 274, up from R1 120 in 2024, Mpho Sadiki, managing director of merchant services for Payfast in Africa and Network International.
“While the increase is modest, it signals a clear behaviour trend, shoppers are spreading their spend across more items, taking advantage of mutli-category deals instead of making fewer large ticket purchases.”
Lifestyle related categories led online sales, including clothing and accessories, speciality retail, retail outlet services, travel and tourism and electronics.
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PayJustNow average basket of R1 629
Payments platform PayJustNow recorded its strongest Black Friday cycle to date. Across its platform, overall transaction value grew by 80% year-on-year and transaction volumes increased by 60% but the average basket size remained relatively stable at R1 629.
Mark McChlery, chief data and analytics officer at PayJustNow, says it is a combination that signals that, while consumers are spending, they are not overextending themselves.
For the first time, online transactions on PayJustNow exceeded in-store values, at 56% of total spend. “E-commerce pulled ahead decisively. The trust gap has narrowed, delivery reliability has improved and online has become a planning environment where consumers browse repeatedly before committing and spend more.”
Almost 5 million users viewed the PayJustNow app and participating deals on Black Friday alone, with 85 000 clicks recorded, directing shoppers through to retail platforms.
Women drove 69% of all transactions, while millennials remained the dominant demographic, with a visible rise in Gen Z participation.
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Standard Bank
Standard Bank saw an online surge with approved online transactions growing by +11% compared to a year ago, driven by mobile-first shopping. Contactless payments accounted for 50% of all transactions, while online made up 14% of total spend.
The average transaction value was R512 and the largest single transaction was R1.3 million.
The provinces that saw the most spending were Limpopo (+25%) and the Western Cape (+17%). The strongest sectors were groceries (+32%), convenience retailers (+14%) and restaurants (+12%).
The highest spend on a credit card at Standard Bank was R864 000 on home furnishings, while the highest international spend was R734 000 on hotels and lodging. The highest spend on jewellery over the weekend was one customer who spent R442 000 locally and another who spent R264 000 while abroad.
The highest travel spent through Standard Bank was R406 000 on travel and tour operators and R332 000 on international flights.
The highest spend by value was a customer who spent a total of R1.71 million and another who spent R1.61 million.
