It’s the last Friday in November. The parking garage at Gateway is full before nine, the queues at the tills go round the corner, and the escalators are packed. Every shopper heading for the exit is carrying something. Look a little closer and you’ll see the mall is full of small, moving billboards, and each one has a retailer’s name on it.
This year Black Friday falls on 27 November. From then until Christmas Eve, South African retail gets more foot traffic than at any other time of year. Most retailers plan their stock, staffing and specials carefully for this window. Far fewer plan the one item every customer takes home: the bag.
The rush is bigger, and longer, than it used to be
The numbers from last year show the scale. FNB clients spent R3.4 billion on Black Friday 2025 alone. Absa recorded R5.5 billion in transactions over the weekend, and Nedbank reported a record R2.84 billion over the same period.
The season is also spreading out. Absa found that card spend on Black Friday itself rose only 1.4%, while Cyber Monday jumped 11%. Stats SA data shows November now accounts for almost 46% of combined November and December retail sales, up from 42.5% in 2011. Shoppers are being more deliberate. They’re spreading their spending over the whole season, so retailers get several weeks of busy trade instead of one frantic day.
Despite the growth of online shopping, most of this happens in physical stores. Visa found that 84% of festive season retail payment volume in South Africa went through in store. That means millions of customers walking out with something in their hands.
Every bag is a billboard that walks
Think about where a shopping bag goes after it leaves your store. It goes past every other shopfront in the mall and sits on a food court table while its owner has lunch. It goes down to the parking lot, onto a taxi or bus, and home to a family gathering. Often it gets used again to carry gifts, school things or groceries.
You’ve already paid to put that branded bag in the customer’s hand. The only question is whether it does the job well. A flimsy, generic bag gets thrown away at the car. A strong, well-designed bag with clear branding keeps working for weeks.
Shoppers are paying attention to what you hand them
South African consumers are noticing packaging more, and they’re showing a clear preference for paper. In the 2025 Two Sides Trend Tracker, 64% of South African respondents said they prefer online orders to arrive in paper packaging, up from 58% in 2023. Another 58% said they are actively increasing their use of paper packaging.
These shoppers also notice when retailers make the effort. 62% feel brands and retailers are introducing more sustainable packaging, and more than half said they would consider avoiding retailers that are not trying to cut non-recyclable packaging.
So a quality paper bag shows your brand, and it also shows shoppers you’ve taken their preferences seriously, at the exact moment they’re deciding where to spend.
Plan your festive packaging now, not on 26 November
The retailers who get the most from the season treat packaging as part of the campaign. A few practical points:
Order early. Demand for bags rises across the industry from October, so placing your order well before Black Friday protects you from running short on your busiest days.
Design for the season. A limited festive print makes your bags stand out in a crowded mall and gives customers a reason to keep them. Small run custom printing means you can produce a seasonal design without being left with stock you can’t use in January.
Match the size to the haul. Black Friday baskets are bigger and heavier than usual, and December brings gifting. A range of sizes with strong handles keeps the shopping experience comfortable from till to car.
Give people somewhere to go. Your social handle, website or a QR code on the bag turns a passing glance into a visit long after the mall has closed.
Make your credentials visible. An FSC certified mark tells shoppers your paper comes from responsibly managed sources and backs up the sustainability message they’re already looking for.
Make the walk out the door count
The festive rush brings more people through South African malls than any other time of year. Every customer who walks out of your store can carry your brand into the crowd. Traderbag makes FSC certified, custom printed paper bags for South African retailers, with small run options so even a seasonal design is within reach.
To get your festive bags sorted before the rush, get in touch with us at info@traderbag.co.za or visit www.traderbag.co.za.
