After another successful edition of Black Friday in Brazil, it is safe to say that the event has officially won over Brazilian customers, establishing itself as the most important day of the year for e-commerce businesses. According to Ebit|Nielsen, the last Friday of the year exceeded expectations, with 23,6% growth when compared to the previous edition.
Here at PagBrasil, we also noticed significant growth. We gathered information from our database that shows not only this edition’s progress but also reveals consumers’ behavior when choosing their payment methods. Because businesses in Brazil begin launching early-bird deals on Thursday and stretched their discounted offerings until Sunday, we collected information from this period. And here’s what we got.
Black Friday at PagBrasil
Our Black Friday here at PagBrasil has been very positive, with Boleto Flash® payments showing impressive results. Furthermore, credit card payments remain as the leading preference but lose strength when compared to the previous edition.
In addition, installment payments also showed surprising results. Installment payments are a common practice in Brazil: using their credit cards, Brazilians may distribute the price of the purchase over monthly payments. However, our data showed that this was not the case for this Black Friday: 92.6% of payments were completed in one single installment.
Preference for Boleto Flash® payments grows
Payments completed with Boleto Flash®, the only boleto in the market with payment confirmation in less than one hour, grew 106% when compared to last year. In addition, the share of boleto payments went from 28% to 39%, proving alternative payment methods play an important role in Brazilian customers’ preference. Credit card payments remained as the first choice, representing 49% of all transactions. This is, however, significantly lower when compared to the year before, when credit card payments represented 62% in the same period.
Payment methods such as the traditional boleto and Boleto Flash®, which also enables cash payments, allow the unbanked and underbanked populations to participate as e-shoppers. After all, Brazil is home to 45 million adults who do not have a bank account and are yet economically and digitally active. And, with fast payment confirmation, purchases are quickly released, arriving at the destination far earlier then they would if the customer chose to pay with the traditional boleto bancário. This last payment option is usually set to expire within 2-15 business days, and payment is only confirmed in 1-4 business days. In addition, Boleto Flash® offers a mobile-responsive layout, enabling m-commerce purchases – and ultimately increasing conversions.
An overview of Black Friday 2019 in Brazil
According to Ebit|Nielsen, online retail revenue reached BRL 3.2 billion between Thursday and Friday, with 5.33 million orders – a quarter more than the previous Black Friday. In addition, Social Miner showed that the last three days of the month represented 37.1% of all November sales. During this period, e-commerce registered its highest peak between 2 am and 4 am on Friday, with a new peak starting at 9 am.
The “Mobile First” phenomenon
Mobile usage is significantly high in Brazil: 92% of all households have a smartphone. That said, it is no surprise that m-commerce played an important role in this year’s edition.
The numbers have shown to be truly impressive: 55% of all orders where made with smartphones, representing a 103% growth. According to Ebit|Nielsen, mobile revenue reached BRL 1.7 billion, a 95% expansion when compared to 2018, when revenue reached BRL 830 million.
This phenomenon may be explained by a marketing trend that has gained strength this last year: offering higher discounts exclusively on mobile apps. Research carried out by Provokers and Google prior to this year’s edition showed that 36% of e-shoppers intended using a retailer’s app to shop for this year’s Black Friday. In addition, according to Deloitte, shopping is the main activity related to mobile usage in Brazil, including activities such as product and service research and navigating on e-commerce websites and apps.
Problems with checkout are among the main complaints
Although successful, customers faced a number of issues in this year’s edition: Reclame AQUI registered 8,800 complaints between 11 am on Wednesday and 11:59 pm on Friday. The main complaint was related to lower discounts than what was advertised, followed by problems at checkout and different prices. The list below shows the top Black Friday complaints:
- False advertising (33.6%)
- Problems at checkout (11.3%)
- Different prices (7.9%)
- Delivery issues with anticipated Black Friday purchases (5.8%)
- Payment refund (4.8%)
It is important to note that the report shows results from all sales, not limited to e-commerce or retails sales. Fast-food chains, for instance, led the number of complaints in this year’s Black Friday.
Get ready for the holiday season
While Black Friday in Brazil might be the biggest event of the year for e-commerce businesses, the Christmas season does not fall far behind. In fact, 77% of Brazilian consumers plan to purchase presents this year, and 41% said they will go online for holiday shopping. In addition, 86% will compare prices online.
Even though many consumers anticipated their gift shopping on Black Friday, 54% of merchants and business owners feel that the event does not interfere with Christmas. This is because consumers usually leverage form the Black Friday discounts to purchase items for themselves, while Christmas is more focused on presents for friends and family.
Is your e-commerce ready for the season? Check out our article on Christmas shopping in Brazil and prepare ahead of time!