Belgium 12.11.2020

Black Friday Historic Trends & Future Predictions

The new lockdown in Belgium will certainly shake things up within the retailer landscape, but how is sales going to be distributed as Black Friday approaches? Will big international retailers prevail or are consumers more attracted to buying from a local retailer? Since the new strict lockdown regulations will be in place during Black Friday, the positive impact on online sales will be inevitable. We saw this during the first lockdown at the beginning of the year, when online purchases skyrocketed. Let’s reflect on the Black Friday trends of 2019 and project what we see coming for the 2020 peak season.

Black Friday beats January 2019 sales period

For technical consumer goods*, Black Friday was the main sales event of the year. Black Friday even exceeded the 1^st week of the January sales period, as well as the “-21% VAT” promotional week. Internet sales turnover grew +70% in comparison to the Black Friday week in 2018, but traditional shops were not lagging either and increased their turnover by +21%. Although e-commerce really boomed, traditional sales still accounted for 69% of the total weekly turnover.

Black Friday Trend Report 2019

Certain product groups were the primary drivers for Black Friday sales, namely: phablets, TVs, headsets, vacuum cleaners, and media tablets. Loudspeakers, audio home systems, and TVs represented the highest turnover uplift, with audio home systems being purchased almost 8 times more, compared to an average week.

The biggest highlights and insights about the Consumer, Market, Category and Product Group trends is available in the Black Friday 2019 Trend Report which you can download here.

COVID-19 impact Belgium market

This year, the peak weeks will be more challenging than ever. Expect fierce competition as manufacturers and retailers aim to compensate for lost revenue in a tougher economic climate. Also rapidly changing consumer behavior and attitudes will impact the market drastically. Will we detect similar purchase patterns as last year? Or did consumers already buy the necessary devices for their new home office, homeschooling, and eat@home way of living?

Know Your Consumer

In 2020, grabbing a bargain is going to be on everyone’s mind again. 42% of online shoppers said saving money was their main purchase driver (GfK FutureBuy, 2020).

By truly understanding what is happening before and during the key weeks in the retail calendar, you can outsmart your competitors and secure your share of consumer spending. Short-term decision-making requires fast, up-to-date market intelligence. Knowing what to promote, to whom, at what price, on what channels, and when, is going to be vital to success. GfK can give you the foundation you need to stay on top of the volatility.

Ready to get fit for this year’s Peak Season?

Let GfK’s Weekly Market Intelligence help you maximize this year's peak weeks successfully. Ask for our special packages which will allow you to monitor your product group’s sales performance for total market, sub-segment or best-selling models – online and offline.

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