Insight: Black Friday discounting sees lowest ever basket value for electricals
New figures have shown the extent to which retailers cut their prices on Black Friday weekend with numerous online retail sectors recording tumbling average basket values.
The data from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index reveals that this was most acutely felt in electricals, a key sector for bargain-hunting Black Friday shoppers. Within the sector, the average basket value dropped to £119 in November , which was a decrease of 18.5% on October 2016 and a 22.7% decline on November 2015. This was the lowest value since the Index started tracking the sector in 2006.
Across all the sectors, excluding home & garden, basket values fell compared with the month before. In addition, the footwear, gifts, menswear and womenswear sectors also witnessed decreased average basket values on November 2015.
The heavy discounting helped attract shoppers online, with the Index reporting a year-on-year growth rate of 22.9% in November. Across the sectors, accessories soared by 60.5%, gifts were up 47.2%, lingerie was up 35.8% and clothing was up 24%. The only sector that failed to grow was health & beauty, which was down 4.2%.
The figures show that for only the second time this year, the growth in online retail sales made through multichannel retailers exceeded those of the pure plays.
Across mobile channels, tablets’ resurgence continued with sales completed on the devices up 12.5% year-on-year when travel retailers were excluded. Sales on smartphones showed no signs of letting up, with growth of 89.2%.
Bhavesh Unadkat, management consultant in retail customer engagement design at Capgemini, said: “Given that Black Friday has peaked year-on-year in the last three years, perhaps it’s no surprise that the Index registered such a strong result in November. What we’re seeing however, is that this surge is actually cannibalising purchases across the peak period. In terms of what this means for retailers, maintaining momentum across the whole peak period has never been more important.”
