BRAND JOURNALSouth Africa’s festive shopping season begins, bringing the year’s toughest budget pressures for many households. New free report brings together the evidence for families and the shops that serve them
Media release · 9 November 2026
The Festive Trading Gap, published by Brand Journal ahead of Global Entrepreneurship Week, brings together the latest figures on festive spending, stokvels, household costs and shoppers’ rights in South Africa, from Black Friday to the January school run
SOUTH AFRICA, 9 November 2026. South Africa’s festive trading season is approaching, with Black Friday on 27 November, households allocating their month-end pay cheques and stokvels preparing their seasonal purchases. For many households, it is a time of homecomings and shared meals. It is also often the period when household budgets face their greatest pressure, from the final pay cheque of November to January’s school fees.
A free report released on Monday, 9 November 2026, by Brand Journal, The Festive Trading Gap, brings together recent official statistics, payment data and surveys examining the financial pressures on households and the trading conditions facing neighbourhood shops over this period. Every figure is accompanied by its source and date.
The report is intended to be useful to people on both sides of the counter. It gives shop owners practical information to help them prepare for seasonal demand, manage stock and fulfil orders. It also gives customers and families information to help them compare prices, understand their rights, plan purchases and make informed decisions. It includes the experiences of stokvels and the role of neighbourhood businesses in the communities they serve.
The report is published ahead of Global Entrepreneurship Week, observed in some 200 countries from 16 to 22 November 2026.
What the report finds
- The season is already under way. After removing price changes, retail sales in November 2025 were about 23% above an average month from January to October, and December was about 45% above. Together the two months made up 21.1% of the whole year’s retail sales (Brand Journal calculation from Statistics South Africa figures, October 2026).
- It is the hardest stretch of the year for many households. In a national survey of more than 5,400 people, respondents named December and January as the hardest months for their budgets. A monitored household food basket cost R5,512.53 in October 2026.
- Communities save together, and start early. About a third of township residents surveyed belong to a stokvel or group savings scheme, and one national wholesaler serves more than three times its usual number of stokvel customers in December, many of them on orders placed in November.
- Spending is growing close to home. In one payment company’s data, festive spending through card machines in Soweto rose 35.2%, the largest single contribution to its festive growth.
- Phones are part of shopping, and data costs shape it. In a 2026 survey, 41% of township residents said they had ordered from a business in their area by phone, and 37% said data costs sometimes or often stop them engaging with brands online.
The report also sets out the full festive calendar to 7 January 2027, and the rights that shoppers hold through the season under South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act, including the right to choose a refund when an item bought in advance runs out, and the rule that a “was” price on a Black Friday or Christmas sale label must be a price the shop really charged.
“For many households, December and January are the hardest months of the year for the budget, and that is also the time of the most promotions and pressure to spend. Shoppers have rights in those weeks and throughout the year, including understanding a real ‘before and after’ price and a choice of refund when an item runs out. Shop owners who know those rules and the figures can serve their customers fairly. This report puts all of it in one place, free,” said Neo Kheswa of Brand Journal.
“The festive season is often a time when household budgets come under pressure and neighbourhood shops play an important role in communities. This report brings together layers of evidence on that period, making it freely available so that households, shop owners and decision-makers can work from the same facts and make informed choices,” added Lindsay McDonald of Brand Journal.
Notes to editors
The report is free to read, share and quote, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Read the report: https://brandjournal.co.za/reports/festive-trading-gap/
Download the report (PDF): https://brandjournal.co.za/reports/festive-trading-gap/Brand-Journal-Festive-Trading-Gap-2026.pdf
Every figure in this release appears in the report with its publisher, date and web address.
Brand Journal is a South African studio that publishes research on retail and works within the retail and creative industries.
Media contact
Lindsay McDonald, [email protected], 076 101 0421