Bank of Ireland clients reportedly spent more in 2024 on Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend, up a substantial 4.7% on the past year, while spending by Bank of Ireland customers for the month of November 2024 was up as well by a significant 5.6% on last year.
Black Friday is said to be growing in popularity – spending by Bank of Ireland customers on that day alone was up “6.8% YoY – whereas Cyber Monday is having less impact, with purchases down 2.7% YoY.”
In-person sales remain popular, with about “45% of sales over the Black Friday weekend being online, roughly the same as 2023.”
Discounts during the Black Friday period are now said to be fairly common across sectors but it is more closely associated with “retailers and certain categories, particularly electrical goods and clothing.”
This is borne out by the November data as clothing and footwear (+30%) and electrical goods (+26%) were “both up sharply from October.”
The day of Black Friday itself is important for electrical goods sales, with approximately double “spent on that day compared to a typical November day.”
Other major segments which appear to get a Black Friday increase reportedly included the following: cosmetic stores, furniture and home furnishings and department stores.
Conall Mac Coille, Chief Economist, Bank of Ireland said:
“The overall increase in November spending, supported by a range of factors including high employment levels and low inflation, is a positive sign for the economy during this important Q4 period.”
Bank of Ireland customers spending on goods and services both online and in-person during November was up “6.4% on October and up 5.6% compared to November last year.”
In real terms, adjusted for the Consumer Price Index, November spending is up “4.6% year on year.” Retail sales, in particular, “got a boost, being up 14% versus October, and 3.1% year on year.”
Social spending, which includes entertainment and restaurants, “increased by 7.3% year on year.”
Retailers were supported by Black Friday sales with retail purchases by Bank of Ireland customers up “14% compared to October while services spending was down 5.3%, hit by a fall in spending on key services like accommodation and airline travel.”
Spending in restaurants fell last month, by “1.8% compared to October, though it was up solidly year-on-year, by 9.0%, and spending in this sector should be helped in December by the Christmas party season.”
The increase in spending during November indicated by Bank of Ireland data bodes well for the economy during the Q4 period.
Moreover, Q3 GDP data showed that personal consumption in nominal terms was up “4.2% in the year and 1.7% in real terms.”
There should be plenty of “tailwinds” for consumer spending this quarter, the domestic economy is growing, employment is at “record high of 2.8m and unemployment is low at 4.1% in November.”
Real incomes are said to be growing with weekly earnings up “5.3% year-on-year in Q3” and annual CPI inflation at “1% in November.”
But consumers still do seem fairly cautious as global uncertainty is subduing consumer confidence, which was “74.1 in November lower than pre-Covid levels, and the household saving ratio remains elevated at 14% in Q3.”