The South African adoption of American retail trends - 28 Nov 2016

With the increasing uptake of South African retailers adopting the American Black Friday craze, so the hype of South African consumers has seen related hashtags dominating the social media front. On Twitter alone, local Black Friday mentions grew 2,200% year on year, reports Meltwater.

Anton van Heerden, Executive Vice President: Africa & Middle East at Sage shares the pros and cons of Black Friday for small businesses. While it's an opportunity to capatalise on this hype, your marketing could struggle to compete with that of retailers with bigger budgets. His hope is to see Small Business Saturday - an American Express initiative that supports small businesses by encouraging consumers to shop local - come to SA.

Van Heerden quotes trends expert and founder of Flux Trends, Dion Chang, who says: "We see a massive adoption of North American retail trends in South Africa - it is tested, it works and is already embedded in the minds of South Africans. Africa has an hourglass economy - with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class being squeezed - people are going for deals just to make ends meet. For big and small businesses, this is definitely an opportunity for them to join and leverage this trend for their brand."

Speaking of small businesses worthy of support, I interviewed Debra Bouwer and Shari Akal on their budding flower business, Bouwer Flowers. The duo, who curate surprise bunches based on what's in season at local farms, share their part in the journey of flower-to-table and their joy to bring beauty and 'presentness' into everyday life.

Have a beautiful week!