Black Friday: How do buyers in the Baltic countries differ from the rest of Europe?

Kristina Sušinskaitė, Marketing and Communication Manager for the Baltic Countries at Venipak, states that online shopping has become a habit – 1 out of 2 Lithuanians shop online at least once a month. A survey conducted for the company in October this year revealed that 18–39-year-old women and residents of major cities such as Vilnius and Kaunas shop online even more often – once a week.

Meanwhile, big discount days such as Black Friday are especially anticipated. For example, during the last week of November this year, even more shopping activity and increased parcel volumes were observed in the Baltic countries.

"Compared to the indicators of a typical November day, the total number of parcels during the big discount days in the Baltic countries jumped by several dozen per cent. The highest parcel volumes were recorded in major cities: in Lithuania – Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda, in Latvia – Riga, Daugavpils, and Jelgava, and in Estonia – Tallinn, Tartu, and Pärnu" – says K. Sušinskaitė.

Meanwhile, Paysera, which processes payments for about 13,000 e-shops, calculates that buyer expenses in online e-shops increased by 9% during the Black Friday weekend compared to expenses on a typical November day.

"November became an uninterrupted discount marathon – merchants have extended promotional periods looking for new ways to reach buyers, so Black Friday has turned into a month-long phenomenon. The extended discount season probably led to a lower increase in purchases during the Black Friday weekend, as some buyers had already purchased desired items during Singles' Day or another discount day, or conversely – were waiting for the Cyber Monday coming after the weekend" – says Justina Šidlauskienė, Deputy CEO of Paysera.

According to K. Sušinskaitė, during the last week of November alone, nearly half a million parcels were recorded in the Baltic countries: "We continue to observe a trend that online shopping intensifies at the end of the year – people plan purchases in advance and look for the best price offers, most likely they want to take care of Christmas presents, and the wide range of e-shops and convenient delivery directly to homes or the nearest parcel locker allows comfortable shopping while avoiding traffic jams or exhausting queuing in physical retail locations."

Lina Jakimova, Manager of C&D Style, agrees. According to her, there is always a more substantial customer flow during big discount days. "In many cases, customers are looking forward to the already traditional discount days, they have planned their purchases, and many of them are preparing for the major year-end holidays already in November" – says L. Jakimova.

According to K. Sušinskaitė, the shopping habits of Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians were similar during the last week of November: household products, electronics, and coffee were the most popular categories in the Baltic region, while shoppers were also attracted by the abundance of goods available in China's e-shops.

"During the big sales, our chain's cosmetics stores see an increase in sales of their most popular products. These are almond shower oil, shea butter hand cream, rowan berry night serum for the face, and, of course, advent calendars, which appear only in October and are a very attractive product" – L. Jakimova shares her observations. "Meanwhile, in the home decor and home furnishing chain, the most popular gift items are home fragrances, dishes, and Christmas tree toys, which are the biggest attractions every season."

She adds that a chain selling cosmetics generates a higher volume of online shoppers compared to a store that focuses on home decor and gifts. "Customers prefer to wait for a parcel rather than stand in a queue at a shopping centre. They are also more likely to repurchase online, to replenish used cosmetic products, or to return to place an order in the e-shop for items already seen in the showroom."

She says that people want to touch the home décor items physically, assess their size, and see the true colours. "This is probably why online sales account for a slightly smaller share of the chain's total turnover, 15%, while sales double before the major year-end holidays" – says Jakimova, noting that the average amount spent on a gift in both chains is 50 EUR.

According to J. Šidlauskienė, compared to an average purchase of 61 EUR on a typical day in November, the average purchase last weekend increased slightly to 63 EUR.

She also notes that Baltic buyers have different payment habits. In this region, the vast majority of buyers pay at the time of ordering, unlike in parts of Central Europe and the Balkans, where it is more common to pay at the time of pick-up.

During the weekend of promotions and special offers, 78% of buyers most often chose to pay for purchases by initiating payments through e-banking. Meanwhile, card payments, which dominate in Western Europe, are less popular in the Baltic countries and accounted for only 5% of paid shopping carts.

"Shoppers are increasingly using their phones and other smart devices while shopping, and Apple Pay and Google Pay are also gaining popularity. Therefore, it is worthwhile for e-shops to take into account the changing habits of shoppers and consider the availability of these payment methods" – notes J. Šidlauskienė.

According to K. Sušinskaitė, more and more buyers are choosing to collect parcels from parcel lockers. "This is a trend we've been recording in Lithuania since 2021. Our commissioned research revealed that 18–39-year-old women, higher-income residents of major cities, and those with minor children are more likely to choose to have their parcel delivered to a parcel locker. It is likely that a major advantage for them is the ability to flexibly coordinate parcel pickup with their daily route to or from work, kindergarten, or walking with a pet, rather than having to adapt to the courier's arrival at their home at a specific time" – says K. Sušinskaitė.

K. Sušinskaitė also draws attention that if you haven't already done so, it's a good idea to make sure you have your Christmas presents ready in advance as the holidays approach.

"If you do happen to postpone buying Christmas presents until the last minute, it's a good idea to take the dispatch and delivery times announced by merchants into account. Smooth parcel delivery depends not only on the delivery company's operations – the buyer's planning and the role of e-shops from which purchases are made are also important – this is precisely where the parcels are prepared and then handed over to the courier."