Latin Americans increasingly shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Purchases on popular discount shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday in Latin America are increasing each year, especially in countries like Chile, according to a study by Visa.
The study covers seven Latin American countries - Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic - and is based on electronic payments from 2017 processed by Visa on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Transactions grew 12 percent on Black Friday and 11 percent on Cyber Monday in the countries studied, compared to 2016, Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) said.
The senior director of VCA, Gilberto Chaparro, told EFE that purchases on the two discount shopping days following Thanksgiving, seen in transactions made with Visa, have been increasing in Latin America and “we should expect the same this year.”
Black Friday is the most popular day and purchases on that day, on average, have been 1.6 times higher than on Cyber Monday over the past three years.
Purchases in Chile, the leader in the trend, by Visa cardholders grew 59 percent on Black Friday and 63 percent on Cyber Monday in 2017, compared to 2016.
Panama’s purchases grew 35 percent on Cyber Monday, while the growth on Black Friday was 22 percent in Colombia and 21 percent in Peru.
In Brazil, purchases using Visa grew 9 percent on Black Friday and 5 percent on Cyber Monday in 2017.
Costa Rica was the only country where there was no growth on Cyber Monday and just 3 percent growth on Black Friday.
Purchases in the Dominican Republic grew 7 percent on Black Friday and 5 percent on Cyber Monday.
The study found that online purchases on the two discount shopping days grew 6 percent last year.
Some 15 percent of the total purchases on Black Friday in the countries studied were online.
On Black Friday 2017, most purchases were electronics and gifts from department stores, while the majority of the items bought on Cyber Monday were books and electronics.
The study also examined the ratio of credit to debit card purchases.
Chaparro told EFE that debit card purchases increased 16 percent on Black Friday in the seven countries, especially in Chile, up 40 percent; Panama, up 35 percent; and Peru, where they rose 19 percent.
In the countries studied, credit card use was 6 percent higher on Black Friday than the average on any other day of the year, and total sales volume was 69 percent higher on Black Friday 2017 than on any other day in November.
