Vodacom 2024 Black Friday promotion

Vodacom plans to offer promotions on various products this Black Friday, including SIM-only deals, fibre packages, and deals on the latest devices. It will include smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets.

A Vodacom spokesperson told MyBroadband that the mobile operator’s Black Friday deals will be available in-store and online.

Black Friday is on 29 November 2024. However, Vodacom will again run a month-long promotion to mark the sales event.

“This Black Friday, Vodacom customers can expect some of the unbeatable deals available throughout the month of November,” the company said.

It said Vodacom’s promotions will include SIM-only deals, fast fibre plans, and discounts on the latest devices.

“For customers looking for a new phone, tablet, or gadget, our Black Friday device deals will offer the best value on the latest tech,” the spokesperson said.

“Deals will be communicated as soon as they become available. Deals will be available online and in-store.”

This suggests that the mobile operator is following a similar formula to what it did for Black Friday 2023, when it ran promotions from 7 November until 6 December, with new deals launching weekly.

It remains to be seen whether Vodacom will make new offers available weekly in 2024 or launch its entire Black Friday catalogue when its promotion kicks off.

Some of Vodacom’s Black Friday deals in 2023 offered discounts of up to 75%, including fixed, home and mobile connectivity deals.

“Plus, they can enjoy SIM-only data plans at low prices when they already have a device,” said Vodacom.

VodaPay customers could buy airtime during the 2023 promotion period and score an additional 30% in extra airtime, valid for one year.

The mobile operator also offered various wireless home Internet and business internet packages at reduced prices and a range of console and handset deals.

Notable device and gadget deals included significant savings on popular smartphones, gaming consoles, and even a portable power station bundled with rechargeable lanterns.

Among the high-end smartphone deals last year were the Huawei P60 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 on Vodacom’s Red Core 2.4GB plan for R749 and R799 per month, respectively, on a three-year contract.

The Red Core 2.4GB plan has 1.2GB of Anytime data, 1.2GB of Night Owl data, 100 minutes, and 150 SMSes each month.

Console gaming fans could score a deal on the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.

Vodacom offered the PlayStation 5 Digital for R369 per month on a 36-month contract.

The Xbox Series X was available for R429 per month over three years or R629 per month over 24 months, while the Series S was available for R199 and R299 per month on 36-month and 24-month contracts, respectively.

Black Friday shoppers spend R4.5 billion in 2023

Shortly after the sales event in 2023, BankservAfrica revealed that shoppers processed 1.4 million transactions through its online 3D-secure service on Black Friday.

Online transactions totalled R1.39 billion, while the total value of in-store swipes amounted to R3.1 billion.

Online transaction volumes increased by 11% in 2023 compared to 2022, while the value of online transactions grew by 39% year over year.

However, Shergeran Naidoo, head of stakeholder engagement at BankservAfrica, noted that in-store transaction volumes had declined year-on-year.

“In-store shopping was slightly down from last year’s levels compared to online, which delivered again as merchants upped their Black Friday promotions and attracted interest from eager consumers,” he said.

In-store transaction volumes dropped from 6.3 million in 2022 to 5.9 million in 2023, a decline of approximately 6%.

The value of in-store swipes marked a decline of roughly 21% compared to 2022.

“Overall, the financial constraints faced by consumers were clearly visible in this year’s Black Friday spending patterns,” said Naidoo.

“We should also be mindful that levels were higher in 2022, as this was the first year immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic.”