Black Friday skates on appliances, and food orders quintupled compared to 2019

Few customers in stores and lukewarm business online, where the greatest number of sales are concentrated. So it was, this Friday (26), the second Black Friday of the pandemic. The date of promotions competes with Christmas for the position of the best sales period for commerce and raises expectations.

There were more than 6.1 million orders up to 8:00 pm, according to monitoring by Neotrust, a company specialized in virtual sales data. The volume is practically the same as registered until the same time last year. Revenue was R$4.3 billion, 6% above that recorded in the period in 2020.

The preliminary result, however, does not take into account the effect of inflation, which has recorded its highest rise in 12 months since the beginning of 2016. The IPCA (Broad National Consumer Price Index) increased 10.67% in the 12 months ended in October . Considering inflation, sales were 4.2% lower.

Among the 14 categories, food and beverages experienced an exponential increase compared to 2019: the number of orders grew by almost 422% in two years. Compared to last year, the growth was 77% in this category, the highest among them all. These data, also from Neotrust, were accounted for until 4 pm this Friday and compared with the same period in previous years.

The sector that suffered the sharpest drop compared to 2020 was entertainment, which dropped 33%.

Sectors traditionally strong at the time, such as information technology and telephony, slipped. The first decreased 24% compared to 2020, and the second increased 2%. The same happened with appliances and ventilation, which suffered an increase of only 1% compared to two years ago.

According to Apas (São Paulo Association of Supermarkets), the most sought after products in food retail were meats, chocolates and alcoholic beverages. The expectation is growth of 9.30% in the market sector compared to the same period in 2020.

Analyzes of the consumer profile show that the main customers are women (57%) between 25 and 50 years old (68.96%) who live in the Southeast (a region that concentrates 61% of orders).

Until early afternoon, the large physical retail chains that sell home appliances and electronics were empty in downtown São Paulo. At two Magazine Luiza and Casas Bahia stores, there were more attendants than buyers around 11am.

A sheet spoke with few consumers who purchased electronics and products for the home. Purchases were programmed and researched beforehand on the internet.

“It wasn’t on impulse. I needed a fan and was following the discounts on the internet. I bought it for R$100 less,” said Lindomar de Souza, a shoe salesman.

The networks found it difficult to pass on discounts for certain products in view of the rise in inflation. A 33-inch TV, for example, which was sold for R$999 last year, this year is priced at R$1,500, according to the manager of one of the establishments.

Shopkeepers reported that, compared to last year’s date, the movement is lower. The opening of commerce in view of the cooling off of the pandemic was not enough to bring people to the stores as in past editions of the event.

With the growth of online and the eroded budget of the poorest population, the scenes of televisions on the shoulders or turmoil in the dispute for electronics promotions are not repeated as in the years before Covid.

This year, the bags were filled only with supermarket items, such as non-perishable food and hygiene products.

As a trend already identified by Mercado Livre, of online sales, the population took advantage of the day to fill the pantry. An Americana establishment was the only one with long lines.

By noon, the store had served more than 1,000 people and chocolate was the preferred item. Bars and boxes from the stock were sold in combos: a chocolate that costs R$ 2.99 per unit was sold in the seven promotion for R$ 10.

Liquid soap, shampoos and creams also made up the baskets.

Merchant Sueli da Silva bought R$ 800 in pantry items, such as soap for clothes and cookies, and for Christmas gifts. I was looking forward to Black Friday for that.

“The candy boxes go to the Christmas baskets that we’re going to give to the family. For home appliances, just the sandwich maker because it was so worth it [R$ 69]”he stated.

In ecommerce, the biggest retailers bet on premium product offers, acquiring more iPhones, TVs and refrigerators, with the strategy of capturing the public that still has purchasing power.

Shampoo, perfume and hygiene items and supermarkets also appeared in the reports of Reclame Aqui’s first days of promotion.

“We are living the Black Friday of the grocery store, which makes clear the inflationary and difficult moment for companies and even more for the consumer”, says the executive president of Reclame Aqui, Edu Neves, in a note. “Grocery and hygiene items, for example, are the only ones left for consumers to seek real discounts, showing the forceful moment of inflation.”

9,690 complaints were registered on the website from 12 pm on Wednesday (24) until 9 pm this Friday, which represents an increase of 19% over the same period last year.

Reclame Aqui claims that delivery times were the main reason for complaints this year. According to the site, the focus of consumers on groceries and hygiene items, which are smaller and easier to transport, led to a large offer of reduced terms, for the same day or for the day after shopping. Before, complaints of this type only started to arrive in the weeks following Black Friday.

“In a way, the trend in recent years of having online retailers among the most complained about companies continued. However, what changed were the reasons that took these stores to the top. If before, the main problems involved complaints about advertising misleading and difficult to close the purchase, this promise of express deadlines was what dominated”, explains Felipe Paniago, marketing director of the site.