{"id":809141,"date":"2025-01-28T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=809141"},"modified":"2025-01-28T16:21:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:21:00","slug":"monster-spending-spree-for-consumers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/809141\/monster-spending-spree-for-consumers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Monster spending spree for consumers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Consumer spending shot up over December 2024 in South Africa, leading to an almost R88 billion haul for retailers\u2014and with one shopper spending R175,000 on a single purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe continued year-on-year seasonal uptick highlights the December holidays as a significant contributor to the economy,\u201d said Solly Bellingan, Head of Marketing at BankservAfrica. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe month also reflected steady spending patterns following Black Friday’s strong performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from BankservAfrica card data showed that South Africans prioritised their spending on the essentials, such as food, other necessities, and transport, over the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average card spend over the period was R588.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis of shopping trends across key categories also revealed that the highest spending occurred in December at grocery stores and supermarkets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel purchases at service stations came in second, followed by eating out at restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCard spending remained robust, with most of it centred on everyday items, perhaps signalling how South Africans are choosing to prioritise their spend in the current economic environment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One shopper, however, showed no restraint in their Christmas spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BankservAfrica’s card data shows that the highest card spend was for a luxury item worth R175,000 at a jewellery store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total value of cash orders processed via BankservAfrica\u2019s Integrated Cash Management Service (ICMS) totalled R87.7 billion in December 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICMS data showed the combined total of physical cash orders by commercial banks for their respective ATM and branch networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe total value increased by almost 4% on the R81.5 billion reflected in December last year,\u201d said Bellingan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This figure remains high, showing the persisting seasonal demand for cash among South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash orders peaked on 2, 13 and 27 December, with cash values of R5.2 billion, R6.7 billion, and R5.8 billion, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimilar to previous years, cash orders surged in the lead-up to the public holiday on 16 December, as banks undertook their necessary preparations to ensure the adequate availability of physical notes and coins at their branches for the busy season.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The other major day was on 27 December with cash orders reaching a value of R5.8 billion ahead of the New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations,\u201d said Bellingan.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Moreover, BankservAfrica’s 3D-Secure online card authentication service showed that online shopping saw impressive results, with volumes increasing by 30% compared to 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total value of the transactions was also 50% higher than in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe strong performance reflects the increasing appeal of online shopping.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Convenience, paired with competitive offers over the holidays, sparked a surge in seasonal spending and highlighted the growing reliance on e-commerce.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highest volumes were at mobile network operators followed by entertainment at online betting and gambling outlets and then online grocery stores and large retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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South Africans primarily spent money on essentials in December 2024, but one person spent thousands on jewelry in a single purchase. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":702685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[12671],"class_list":["post-809141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-bankserv-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809141"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809169,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809141\/revisions\/809169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}