E-commerce platforms in Egypt are competing on the Black Friday discounts they are offering, as online companies launched discounts of about 80% with the availability of payment facilities.
The payment facilities are being offered to customers in cooperation with some banks and consumer finance companies.
Black Friday is the Friday that comes directly after the US holiday of Thanksgiving, and usually falls on the last Friday in November, during which various international stores offer major discounts.
In Egypt, however, Black Friday has acquired a different concept with discounts continued throughout November, and sometimes several weeks after the month as well.
Jumia e-commerce started launching the offers of the “Black Friday” sale season, starting from 6 November until 30 November.
Karim Ahmed, Head of Marketing at Jumia Egypt, said that the campaign will last for three weeks, or for four Fridays. It includes 12 flash sale shows, starting at 12 am every morning and ending at 10 pm of the next day, with discounts up to 80% and the possibility of a partial refund of the product’s value (cash back). The latter option is available to customers who use the Jumia Pay application for electronic payment solutions.
Ahmed said that the offers are fully consistent with the changing consumer patterns in Egypt, coinciding with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Black Friday discounts cover as many as 200,000 products from 30 brands, with discounts of up to 70% on phones and electrical appliances, up to 30% on televisions, and up to 80% on clothing.
Mohamed Adel, Head of Business and Financial Services at Jumia Egypt, said that during the campaign, the company allowed cardholders with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), AlexBank, Bank Audi, and Mashreq Bank, the possibility of paying for products in interest free instalments over a maximum of 12 months.
He added that Black Friday will also offer discounts of up to 25%, or a maximum of EGP 200, to customers using Vodafone Cash and Commercial International Bank (CIB) wallets.
Moreover, the Noon e-commerce app launched Yellow Friday offers from 23 to 29 November.
The platform will turn Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE “yellow”, with thousands of brands and offering the largest selection of Yellow Friday offers.
Ahmed Al-Minshawi, Director of Sales at Noon, said that the platform witnessed a significant increase in the number of local vendor partners. These include retailers, major brands, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who responded to the digital transformation imperative posed by the challenges of 2020.
Noon has also provided 20% discounts to its customers paying through the Vodafone Cash wallet, while CIB Bank smart wallet customers will benefit from a 10% discount on all their orders.
Mahfazati customers from AlexBank will receive discounts of up to 15%, whilst Banque Misr cardholders will also get a 15% discount on their purchases from Noon. At the same time, Arab Bank cardholders will receive discounts of up to 25%.
This is in addition to the possibility of interest-free instalments over periods ranging from six to 12 months with many banks, including the CIB, Emirates NBD (NDB), Banque Misr, and AlexBank.
Amazon subsidiary, Souq.com, will offer 11/11 sales on 11 November, in preparation for the White Friday sale at the end of November. The 11/11 sale market offers about 30 categories of products such as electronics, household appliances, kitchenware, grocery, fashion, smartphones, cosmetics, and watches.
Souq.com allows its customers to pay by using the direct payment feature on receipt or through the available online payment options, which include credit and debit cards.
The market provides payment of the value of products in instalments without interest and with 15% discounts for CIB customers, as well as for ValU customers, which allow instalments of up to 60 months, and a 20% discount if paying using Vodafone Cash wallet.
