Black Friday: How much money did Israelis spend in eight hours?

At the ALM branch in Beersheba, a record transaction was made for a single customer, who purchased products at a cost of over NIS 70,000.

Black Friday sales in Jerusalem, Nov. 2020 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Black Friday sales in Jerusalem, Nov. 2020
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Despite the coronavirus crisis and the enormous damage caused to the economy in the past year, hundreds of thousands of Israelis eagerly stormed stores, mostly online, last Friday for Black Friday.
A summary of the data on Israelis' spending on credit cards shows that purchases on Friday amounted to NIS 720 million, a decrease of 5% compared to last year. The analysis was performed by the Shva (Automatic Banking Services) company, which operates the national credit card payment system.
According to the data, the transactions were made between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. During these hours on Black Friday in 2019, purchases amounted to NIS 760 million and in 2018 to NIS 660 million. One of the most interesting statistics reveals that the busiest minute during the shopping day yesterday was recorded at 12:12, during which more than 11,400 transactions worth about NIS 4 million were made. Last year, at the height of the shopping day, 12,500 transactions per minute were recorded.
The summary of the data also shows that about 50% of credit card transactions were made at terminals with EMV technology, where they can be made by entering a PIN code.
The electronics chain ALM reported a record number of sales on Black Friday with a 165% increase compared to last year. Long lines were observed at many of the company's stores, with the record at 11 a.m. with 1,200 transactions made in one hour on the site and at the chain's branches.
At the ALM branch in Beersheba, a record transaction was made by a single customer, who purchased products at a cost of over NIS 70,000. It was also reported that the four best-selling products were 65-inch or larger TV screens, refrigerators, Dyson vacuum cleaners and dryers.