Artem Shevchenko, founder, and CEO of Hubber, Eastern Europe largest e-commerce platform shared his Black Friday experience during the Sales Director Club meeting held in MIM-Kyiv in mid-January. 

How much was spent?

3.4 billion hryvnias in Ukraine 

According to the GFK data during the Black Friday week of 2019 sales stroke 3.4 billion hryvnias. It is 1 billion hryvnias more than in 2018.

It’s interesting that compared to the pre-Black Friday week the sales grew by 23.4% only whereas in 2018 by 144%. It means that fewer and fewer people postpone buying to get a discount. 

+ 20% to an average spend

Average online and offline spend increased by 20% reported Promodo UA BF Research and LetyShops BF statistics. Offline growth was 9% only. 

460 Mio hryvnia was spent on Aliexpress

PrivatBank and Monobank reported that Ukrainians spent 460 Mio hryvnia in 1.2 Mio transactions with an average spend of 400 hryvnias on AliExpress.

When did Ukrainians do their shopping research?

50% of inquiries were made on the day before the Black Friday

If you look at Google statistics you’ll see that half of all goods search were made on Thursday and Friday, 33% and 24% respectively. Ukrainians followed the patterns of people from other countries. 

What did they buy?

3 top goods accounted for 250-500% of sales increase

According to the LetyShops BF statictics the following goods were best sellers:

• Smart TV sales increased by 5 times compared to the previous week. The 30% discount was also the largest. Average spend increased by 3% only;
• Vacuum cleaners sales increased threefold with an average discount of 12%. Average spend went down by 5%;
• Refrigerators sales increased by 2.5 times with the average discount if 9% and average spend of 5% bigger.     

Other home appliances and electronics sales increased by 40% - 140% on average. It was nice to learn that book sales increased by 80%^ at the Yakaboo online store. 

What was happening in retail?

Sales increased by 40-140% 

retailers.ua, the specialized online publication reported that retail sales increased by 40-140% compared to the previous similar periods. Such national chains as Foxtrot sold 40% more, Eldorado 100% more and Epicenter 140%.

Who were the buyers?

50% were new

Promodo UA BF Research and LetyShops BF statistics informed that 50% of the total number of Black Friday buyers were absolutely new to the outlets or sellers they were buying from. 30% of buyers bought online. 

How many parcels were send?

1 Mio

Nova Poshta, national leader of delivery service reported that they operated 1 Mio of parcels or 26% more than in the same period previous year from the sellers. International internet shops shipped 36% more parcels. 

What are the trends?

On one hand, special promo discounts periods such as Black Friday boost up sales. On the other hand, the number of people ready to buy things when they need them rather than wait for discounts is increasing as well.