The so-called Black Friday has become one of the times of greatest sales of the year in both consumer electronics and video games.
We are already in full Black Friday 2019, Black Friday, that day (or days) where discounts and offers are counted by thousands in all sectors of consumer-oriented commerce. The video game industry will be on Friday, November 29, one of the main sales centers in online portals and physical networks around the world, offering current consoles, packs and titles at a price well below the usual.
What started as a single day, then two if we count Cyber Monday, has ended up becoming a whole week of offers; Now, why do stores proceed in this way, with discounts on such aggressive occasions? Does it really cost to reduce both the profit margin on current consoles such as PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch? Statistics say yes, of course it is.
Sales peaks with records every year
It is only necessary to look back and interpret the real data, the evolution that Black Friday is having, more and more internalized in the West and expanded even to fast food chains, clothing, household goods and other sectors such as motoring. Everything goes to shoot in the most vulnerable areas of the potential consumer, especially on a date where advance Christmas shopping postulates something so attractive.
2017 was the most successful year of Black Friday worldwide, including Spain, until 2018 again surpassed it. According to Netrica data, online commerce grew to 7 million orders, an increase of 32.8% compared to the positive data in our country of 2016, where there were 5.3 million orders. But focusing on the technology sector, which is where video games are framed, 23% of the total sales amount on Black Friday 2017 was from this sector, only surpassed by fashion, which signed a spectacular 34% about the sales.
In 2018, Spanish users spent a total of 78,774,750 euros in video games between Monday 19 and Sunday 25 November, with more than 577,000 physical copies of video games, more than 151,000 consoles and 220,000 peripherals, a clear reflection of the Good health of the video game industry in Spain.
More than 2 million orders related to video games in Spain alone
However, last year there were more than 2 million purchases related to electronic leisure in the week of November 19 to 23 in Spain alone. In an interview with CNBC, PlayStation Network business leader Eric Lempel said that on the two days of Black Friday 2017 they experienced the best sales weekend in PlayStation history. "We've had the best Black Friday in PlayStation history," he said. "We sold more consoles than ever in our 23-year history, and PS Plus is being an added purchase very naturally."
This year offers such as PlayStation 4 from 199 euros stand out with games included; 100 euros discounts on all packs. Also Microsoft, which also lowers more than 100 euros in some cases its current domestic platform, Xbox One. Expert analysts believe that Nintendo will be the big winner with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, from which really high sales are expected for its price (lower in some shops to 199 euros) and the new software that accompanies the machine this quarter.
The novelty factor, key
Experts in the field say that it is also important to take into account, from a business point of view, that there are developments in the previous weeks, especially in the field of hardware, so that these sales are even more incentivized. Nintendo Switch was, according to information published by Adobe, the best-selling product in the video game sector in those days. He competed with products such as Chromecast and Roku at the sales level, something positive but that is even more so from the moment one costs less than $ 50 and the other something more than $ 300.
In total, the phenomenon of Black Friday resulted in 5,030 million dollars billed, a growth that is largely due to the prolonged duration of the phenomenon. As we can see in the image, the BrainSins Reviews shows that from the previous two days sales and visits to online portals begin to skyrocket – especially from mobile phones, the most given device for executing purchases. While the weekend falls tremendously, during the so-called Cyber Monday (Monday after Black Friday) a peak very similar to that of Black Friday is experienced again.
It is for this reason that the video game stores that we all know began their offers since last Monday, because although they begin to make discounts (and reduce their profit margin) so early, it is proven to work. This year we also have news, something that we cited above as an element of vital importance; it will not be in the form of new hardware – beyond Nintendo Switch Lite – but with new packs. And what game will accompany those packs of PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch? Of course, the biggest phenomenon that can be taken right now: Fortnite: Battle Royale.
Finally, simply emphasize that the impact on the sales of consoles and video games during these final months of the year is increasing (before the peaks only occurred at Christmas). It is only necessary to see how PS4 sold in that quarter of 2015 more than 6.3 million units; For its part, the last quarter of 2017 translated into Nintendo Switch in more than 7.2 million units sold.
And you, are you one of those who buys on Black Friday?
