Seventy-two per cent of Emirati men plan to take part in Black Friday, compared to 70 per cent of women, according to a new survey from discount site Picodi.com.
Men are also willing to spend on average about Dh1,100 compared to Dh760 for women on Black Friday, which falls on November 29 this year, according to the poll of around 530 respondents - half male and half female.
“The reason behind such a difference may be the fact that on Black Friday a top category of products bought by men is electronics,” the report said.
Women buy 5.6 products on average, while men buy 4.7, but women’s top choices for products were clothing, shoes and cosmetics and perfumes, while men preferred clothing, electronics and shoes.
The majority (56 per cent) of the surveyed Emiratis said they would shop both online and offline, while about a third (36 per cent) plan to shop only online. A mere 8 per cent said they would shop exclusively in retail stores.
Among respondents, 33 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men said they would rather give up on purchasing a product than wait in line. For those who shop online, the peak shopping times were 2pm and 9pm.
Black Friday is a US tradition of massive sales taking place the day after Thanksgiving, but in recent years it has spread to other countries, including the UAE. Souq.com was one of the first to start the tradition in the Emirates in 2014, calling it “White Friday”.
In its first year as Amazon.ae, the e-commerce site is running the White Friday sale from November 23 to 29, promising savings of up to 70 per cent off. Amazon Prime members will get early access starting November 22.
Noon.com also has its own “Yellow Friday” tradition, with the sale taking place from November 24 to 30 this year.
Some retailers have already got a head start, with Sprii.ae, Namshi.com and awok.com, all hosting Black Friday sales throughout the month of November.
The UAE was the fifth-largest spender per consumer on Black Friday, according to a 2018 Picodi.com survey of 21,000 respondents in 55 countries. A UAE consumer spent an average of $291 (Dh1,069), while the US consumer spent on average $485, followed by Canada ($430), the UK ($397) and Ireland ($339).
