MADRID – Half of all Spanish people will make a retail purchase on or around Black Friday. The average amount spent then is €260. That means around that day, consumer spending will reach the same level as in 2019.
At that time, an average of €219 per person was spent. This is according to the latest Cetelem report for Black Friday published recently. The percentage of consumers who plan to make a purchase will also have recovered from the pre-pandemic period. “51% expressed an intention to make a purchase on this date. This is an increase of four percentage points from 2020 (47%). And is also in line with 2019 Black Friday, ahead of the pandemic,” the survey said.
Physical store
The brick-and-mortar store is also gaining ground on the dates when the most is expected to be spent. In this respect, consumers appear to be returning to their normal pre-pandemic behaviour.
It is one of the most relevant data from the Observatorio Cetelem Estacional Black Friday 2021, where it is shown that the percentage of Spaniards who declare that they only make purchases online has decreased by 13% compared to a year ago (65%). This year, 52% say they prefer online purchases over physical stores.
Both online and in physical store
The percentage of respondents who indicate that they make both online purchases and purchases in physical stores has also increased. In 2020, only 29% of Spaniards showed this type of hybrid purchase, well below 41% in 2021.
Christmas purchases pushed forward
According to Cetelem, “more and more consumers in Spain are using the Black Friday offers to push their Christmas shopping forward.” So this year 7 out of 10 consumers expressed their intention to make a Christmas purchase earlier, the same data as in the past 2 years. However, this trend has been reinforced by fears of shortages, according to the research firm.
Best-selling products
The products attracting the most consumers during this period are home appliances/technology (53%) with a strong increase of 25% from 2020 and the first place; things for in and around the house (35%) and travel (26%).
Employment opportunities
The good prospects also encourage companies to hire more employees. Both in distribution chains, in logistics, and in the stores themselves. According to the forecasts of the personnel company Randstad, 43,000 employees are needed for this period of sale in the run-up to the holidays. This makes it the highest figure in recent years, 22.7% more than last year and 48.8% more than in 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.
More second-hand products
On the other hand, and because of the fear of a shortage of certain products, purchases of second-hand and even refurbished products are on the rise.
For example, one in three Spaniards buy more second-hand items than before the pandemic, according to data from La Red del Cambio, a study by Wallapop and Ipsos. In addition, the average consumer spending on the second-hand market in 2020 was between €70 and €225.
The second-hand market will therefore grow during this period thanks to the fact that the availability of products there is greater, in addition to the prices being much more affordable. In addition, many consumers find it more sustainable to extend the life of products already produced.
According to a study by Wallapop, dedicated to the sale of second-hand products, average consumer spending in the second-hand market has fluctuated between €70 and €225 in the past year, with the exception of the motorcycle category, where costs exceeded €4,000.
Products for the home, items for children and babies, or leisure time – during which we had to spend so much time at home – were some of the most popular categories. Searches for small appliances and items for exercising at home rose, growing 200% year-on-year in May.
