Commerce in São Paulo has more sellers than customers on Black Friday morning

Scenes of stores invaded by crowds of people were not common on Black Friday in São Paulo this year. In the early morning, Magazine Luiza on Tietê waterfront and Casas Bahia on Praça Ramos had more employees than customers, as well as stores on Rua da Direita, in the center of São Paulo, visited by the report.

Part of the consumers started to buy online in the last years. This year, 11% intended to buy in the physical store, according to a survey by Reclame Aqui carried out between November 11th and 13th, with 13,700 users. The number is two percentage points higher than last year.

Among those who prefer to go to the physical store is the valet José Ribeiro Santos, 31. He left his home in Pari, east of São Paulo, at 7 am this Friday (25), to go to Magazine Luiza and be one of the first to enter.

“Since the beginning of the year, we have planned to buy on Black Friday. We are renovating our house,” he said.

José was one of the first in line and bought a queen bed, a closet and a washing machine. In all, he spent around R$3,800, and is believed to have saved R$1,600, according to his research.

Although he is a regular on Black Friday every year, this was the year he spent the most on the date. “In the other editions, we bought pot sets, dinner sets. It was the time when I spent the most, because we planned better”, he says.

The valet said he was satisfied with the purchases, promotions and especially with the payment method —the reason for going to the physical store. According to him, at the establishment it was possible to negotiate the beginning of payment only for February 2023.

Housewife Ana Paula Damaceno, 32, was not so satisfied with her purchases at Casas Bahia. “Things are not so cheap, but you can take it,” she said. She bought a set of pans for around R$500, and will try to take advantage of promotions in the coming days.

Ana Paula usually shop online, but prefers to go to the physical store in some cases.

“Online can come with a defect. That doubt remains, whether it will come the same or not”, he says. “There are things I buy that don’t come out the way I want.”

Products such as watches, jewelry, books and ebooks are the ones that had the most discounts in the hours leading up to the official start of Black Friday, between 4 pm this Thursday and 12 am this Friday.

According to Promobit, consumers can find discounts of up to 48% when purchasing these items. Men’s fashion and shoes (46% off), sports and leisure (45%), cameras, camcorders and drones (44%), women’s fashion and shoes (44%) and backpacks and suitcases (44%) are also at the top of the list. list of promotions.

The platform specializing in discounts points out that, on average over the last three years, the number of offers began to grow from 4 pm on the eve at the main retailers in the country.