Black Friday buoys retail sales figures

StatsSA said retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores, general dealers and retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment, textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods recorded the largest annual growth rates. Keshnee Naidoo, a director for distributive trade statistics at StatsSA, said Black Friday was the main driving force behind the South African retail growth in November.

“Food and beverages stores benefited the most in November, increasing sales by 6.2percent – the biggest year-on-year jump in food and drink sales since June 2017. South African shoppers also focused their attention on household furniture and appliances in November, driving sales up by 3.2percent,” Naidoo said.

“Clothing stores and retailers specialising in hardware, paint and glass also saw positive gains. On the downside, retailers specialising in pharmaceuticals, medical goods and cosmetics saw their sales sump by 1.9percent year-on-year in November.”