Lightstone estimates 4.3 million vehicle stops at 1850 monitored malls/shopping centres on Black Friday this year, marginally up by 2.5% on last year, but the 25.7 million vehicle stops during Black Friday week were up by 10% compared to 2023’s Black Friday week, and 12% more than the month end week in October 2024.
That’s according to aggregated and anonymised telemetry data made available to Lightstone by Tracker. The data refers to vehicle stops and not people, and only one stop per vehicle per mall per day was counted.
Interestingly, the larger malls recorded the highest proportionate increases. Large malls (above 70 000m2 in GLA) recorded a 28% increase in stops during Black Friday week, more than the 21% recorded in the 50 000-70 000m2 malls, 16% in the 25 000-50 000m2 malls and 9% in the smaller malls.
Of the malls analysed by Lightstone, the top five were from either Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal: Mall of Africa in Midrand was the country’s busiest on Black Friday, followed by Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria, KwaZulu-Natal’s Gateway Theatre of Shopping in third with The Pavilion – Westville in fourth, while Sandton City was fifth. Canal Walk Shopping Centre outside Cape Town was sixth, and the first from outside Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Busiest malls on Black Friday: comparing 2024 to 2023
While most malls recorded increases in vehicle stops in 2024 over 2023, stops to Forest Hill Shopping Centre in Centurion fell by more than 70% in 2024,as the graph below shows. The graph also shows how dwell time dipped at most malls, with just three in KwaZulu-Natal – Cornubia Mall, Galleria – Arbour Town and The Pavilion in Westville – recording better numbers in 2024.
Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront Victoria Wharf again topped the dwell time table in terms of minutes spent inside the mall, although 2024 was down to just over 130 minutes from nearly 230 minutes in 2023.
Time spent at malls on Black Friday: comparing 2024 to 2023
The graph below shows how dwell time has dropped across the four size categories.
Average dwell time in minutes on Black Friday
Black Friday was busiest between noon and 4pm, mirroring trading patterns on the last Friday in October, but activity did increase in the morning on Black Friday (see graph below).
Mall arrival time by hour
Lower income bands spend more time at the shops
Black Friday week increase on October week
Lower-income groups made approximately 14% more visits to malls in the last week of November compared to the last week of October, while more affluent income groups increased their mall visits by around 10% during the same period.
