Paris (awp/afp) – The 2023 edition of Black Friday, the great annual global consumer event, was marked by a clear increase in sales in Europe and the United States, marketing specialists indicated on Wednesday.

Internet sales increased by an average of 12.3% compared to 2022, with more than 1.5 billion transactions recorded in Europe among some 7,200 brands and distributors, according to an analysis by French online advertising specialist Criteo.

In France, online sales increased by 7% compared to last year.

In the rest of Europe, Black Friday also went well despite a sometimes difficult economic situation: Germany recorded 12% more sales in a year, followed by the United Kingdom (+5%), according to Criteo.

Outside Europe, in the United States, where this commercial operation was born, transactions increased by 9%.

If sales in the first half of Friday, November 24, were less satisfactory than in 2022 on the European continent, according to panelist NielsenIQ (3% less in France for online sales), they were, on the contrary, dynamic for stores physical during Black Friday weekend.

According to Criteo, fashion and luxury were “the big winners” of Black Friday, with the two sectors recording the largest increase in transactions globally compared to 2022, or 17.6%.

“Due to the economic situation, the forecasts for Black Friday this year were more varied,” recalled Criteo’s executive director of commerce for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, Marc Fischli. Thus, according to him, these results show “that competitive promotions continue to be the best lever to attract consumers.”

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