Sberbank of Russia : SberIndex analyzes what Russians bought during Black Friday

SberIndexanalysts claim that this year's Black Friday was much weaker than the one in 2019. This year, total spending slid 39.2% y-o-y. The key categories that buyers are usually interested in also saw a decrease exceeding 25%. In the Department Stores category, which includes the key online venues, spending was 27.5% lower y-o-y; in the Home Appliances and Electronics segment the metric slid 30.5%; in the Clothing, Footwear, and Accessories category it lost 44.8%.

These changes imply that in 2019 the demand jumped higher than in 2020 as compared to the normal levels. If compared to regular days, the main product categories that saw Black Friday discounts have experienced higher demand in 2020 too. On the back of the pandemic, it was focused on online channels.

For instance, the number of users who bought feature films, games, subscriptions to services, and other digital products saw a 2.3-fold increase from September and October. Due to discounts, the categories saw their AOVs go up by only 15% compared to other November days, reaching RUB351.

Clothing and accessories emerged as another product category with higher demand on November 27, but the demand was focused on online venues. SberIndex analysts spotted the high demand for these products back in mid-November, but even when compared to November 20, the number of buyers on that Friday added 25%. The size of purchases jumped by as much as 42%, which means customers had been waiting for Black Friday to make large purchases in that category.

Similar behavior can be seen in stores selling home appliances. The number of buyers there increased by only 7% compared to September and October, however, the size of purchases increased by 35% and AOV reached RUB5,776 against RUB4,546 in the first two months of autumn. This means customers waited for the sales day and satisfied the pent-up demand.

When publishing the materials, a reference to SberIndex (www.sberindex.ru) is mandatory.

SberIndex.ru is an analytical website by Sberbank that illustrates how life in Russia has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, you can find three key indexes on the website, all of them based on anonymized data. These are an incidence model, the consumer activity index, and consumer activity changes. The all-new Business section features the evolution of gross payroll and change in small business activity. The website also has other studies, including all SberIndex lab ones (former SberData).