As Black Friday kicked off at Midnight on the 24th of November 2017, Takealot simultaneously kicked off their annual Blue Dot Sale, which ends on the 28th of November. The day started off badly for the e-commerce giants as its site crashed almost immediately after the clock struck 12:00. Even though it experienced its difficulties on the day, the company still raked in a staggering R87 million in gross merchandising value (GMV) by the days end.
Despite the company insisting that they were ready for the increase in traffic prior to Black Friday, Takealot did admit that dealing with the challenges ensured that it was one of the most testing days that the company has faced.
“Black Friday was one heck of a day. We started off with a site in cardiac arrest and ended the day being told we were owned by the Guptas, which of course is absolute nonsense,” said Takealot CEO Kim Reid.
“We are fully aware that the day was far from ideal for our customers and are incredibly humbled that people continued to support us throughout the day. We know we have disappointed some customers and we are very sorry to have done so.”
Takealot’s Black Friday in stats
- R6 million generated in first hour after midnight despite crash
- Doubled GMV from 2016
- 70% increase in site traffic and order numbers from 2016
- 2.2 million hits on the site
Bestsellers on Takealot
- 195 Samsung TV’s ordered in first hour
- Samsung 55-inch UHD leading TV seller, marked down from R16,999 to R8,999.
- Popular cellphones included the Huawei P10 Lite and the Apple iPhone X
- The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One S were again popular choices
- Cameras, wearable tech, and DStv decoders were some of the other popular items.
- 1,400 units of DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom were sold.
- The most popular toys on Black Friday included Barbie, LEGO, Jeronimo, and Nerf.
- The President’s Keepers by Jacques Pauw was another sought after product.
Takealot revealed that there were over 52,000 orders that were placed over the sale weekend, with an impressive 24% of these items having been delivered already.
By Dean Workman
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