Black Friday in the eyes of Hongkongers

Every year, thousands of sale lovers look forward to the end of November. This is when Black Friday, the biggest shopping craze of the year, takes place. Retailers have been preparing for months to finally, on 29^th November, unveil the best promotions and discounts for their clients.

Originally, Black Friday used to be known only in the United States. However, in the last few years, the event has spread to other continents, including our country. Hongkongers have welcomed with opened arms the opportunity to participate in huge sales and make great savings.

In which part of Hong Kong is Black Friday the most popular? What are the differences in attitudes toward sales among men and women? How much money are Hongkongers willing to spend and on which products? Where and when do Hong Kongese consumers shop? Picodi.com analysts look closer into the Black Friday phenomenon and answer these questions.

The king of all sales

Black Friday is not the only shopping holiday in November. In many countries, Singles’ Day is celebrated on November 11^th. Named after the multiple “one” numbers in the date, representing people who are single, Singles’ Day originated in China. The high discounts offered on that day attract huge crowds, especially in Asia.

The survey conducted by Picodi.com shows that Black Friday is widely celebrated in Hong Kong. Among respondents who took part in one of November shopping holidays, 37 per cent participated in Black Friday sales. 35 per cent took advantage of both Black Friday and Singles’ Day. 28 per cent answered that they took part in Singles’ Day only.

Male versus female shoppers

Black Friday sales are popular among both male and female citizens of Hong Kong. As much as 52 per cent of male respondents are going to take part in Black Friday — it is 10 percentage points more than female shoppers.

Women purchase more products: 2.8 in comparison with 2 bought by men. Paradoxically, men spend more money than women on Black Friday. An average woman is willing to spend around HK$696, while an average man around HK$1147. Both male and female shoppers chose clothing and shoes as their top purchases.

Black Friday is all about the promotions. In this case, men and women have similar preferences. The surveyed women choose a lower discount on an entire range of products as their favourite type of promotion. The second place takes a discount coupon, and a higher discount on selected products is in the third place. Likewise, men’s favourite promotion is a lower discount on an entire range of products. It is followed by a higher discount on selected products and then a discount coupon.

No time to lose

The popularity of online shopping is rising year after year, especially because of events such as Black Friday or Singles’ Day. Two-third of the surveyed Hongkongers (66 per cent) are going to shop online on Black Friday. 29 per cent decided to shop in both online and offline stores. Only 5 are going to shop exclusively in brick-and-mortar stores.

One of the reasons against shopping in malls is having to wait in lines. Although in Hong Kong the situation is not as extreme, in some countries, special tutorials are created on how to endure the neverending queuing on Black Friday. Nevertheless, not everyone is willing to waste their time standing in line. Among Hong Kongese respondents, as much as 30 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men declare that they would rather give up on purchasing a product than wait in line.

Those who decide to place orders online do not have to worry about queues and can shop around-the-clock. On the Hong Kongese Internet, peaks of shopping activity fall at midnight and 11 PM. Consumers make purchases at home, during the commute, or even at work — 62 per cent of surveyed Hongkongers admitted that they buy while working.

With Picodi you can save not only during the Black Friday, but also throughout the year. You can combine discount codes with our cashback service to save up even more in shops such as Far East Flora, The Outnet, Love Bonito, Hotels.com and Zalora. You just need to sign up to Picodi.com and activate cashback before shopping.

Methodology

The report is based on archival statistical data of the Picodi.com platform, as well as a survey conducted on behalf of Picodi.com between 9-20 October 2019.

Public Use

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