If the spending habits of South African shoppers on just one Instant EFT app are anything to go by, Black Friday has been a splurge fest, with one person paying more than R800,000 in a single transaction.

Another two customers spent a combined R834,000 on the Ozow platform.

Data from the online payment service provider has revealed some interesting trends, including that bargain-buying began at midnight and grew significantly from 8am to 12-noon; spending, in terms of both value and the number of transactions, dropped from 3pm.

As at 6pm on Friday, the highest single transaction was a travel-related purchase that amounted to R818,000, while the highest spend by a single consumer in the retail sector was R429,000 in just one purchase.

The third-highest big spender was a customer who paid a total of R405,000 in 24 separate transactions.

As if these figures are not shocking enough already, one should bear in mind that the data is reflective of spending on Instant EFT platform Ozow alone. Therefore, just how much has been spent in total on Black Friday – across all transaction types, both online and in-store – can only be left to the imagination.

“What we can say at this point is that spending is definitely higher than last year,” says Ozow’s Sean Newman.

Here are some other gobsmacking numbers from the app:

* 85 – The highest number of transactions by a single consumer across all product sectors

* 68 – The second-highest number of transactions by a single consumer across all product sectors

* 59 – The third-highest number of transactions by a single consumer across all product sectors

* 21 – The highest number of transactions by a single consumer in the retail sector

Ozow’s data also reveals the average spend on this Instant EFT app alone is R653,82.

IOL Business