The American tradition of Black Friday has become a permanent fixture in South Africa's retail calendar after three years running. The latest figures show more people took part in this year's Black Friday sales than ever before. CGTN's Sumitra Nydoo tells us more.

Retailers pulled out all the stops to convince shoppers that their Black Friday deals were the best. The sales pitches began weeks ago. And consumers took the bait, queueing up in some places from midnight. The Council for Shopping Centres says the foot count at malls has increased 13% on a year-on-year basis for Black Friday.

PRESTON GADDY GENERAL MANAGER, SANDTON CITY PRECINCT "We've probably seen about a 20 to 25% increase in the participation over last year Black Friday and it's encouraging. And as I said it's a good opportunity for retailers to liquidate stock that has not been moving and also a draw shoppers let some amazing specials. I've seen a lot of people push out big screen televisions, and then your FMCG goods. You know, things like baby diapers and toilet paper, those are sort of durable items that you can stock up on."

Consumers spend an average of $120 on discounted goods. Clothes, sports footwear and groceries were among the fastest selling items. Most people still use the opportunity to get their hands on electronic goods.

PREYA HARICHUNDER TRAINEE MANAGER, SAMSUNG SANDTON "People are busy queuing from the morning. They buying regular items plus they're buying all TV specials, ranging from 25 to 30%"

SHOPPER "I bought a TV. Number one, it is cheap. Number two, the quality of the TV is really good and the price is reasonable."

But some customers expected more.

SHOPPER "Not a lot of deals I can say it's just normal prices so far, that's what I've seen. But I think I still have to move around some more and see if I can get something."

SHOPPER "I think South African companies and businesses need to take the consumers more seriously and give better deals because it's kind of insulting to the intelligence of the people if they gonna give us feels like this where they're not really deals and people flock and still buy them regardless."

SASH PADAYACHEE MANAGING DIRECTOR, TALEO RETAIL ADVISORY "Customers are not entirely incentivised to really grab those bargains because it's more of what they've seen across the whole of 2018. Generally, I think people are browsing and are quite strategic in what they're choosing. So it's single items, smaller packets. And I think retailers have lost out on perhaps putting together bundle offers to extend both the share of wallet but also to extend the basket size."

Consumers are cash strapped and battling with rising costs. But South Africans are also known for their love to shop and sadly for their lack of savings. Black Friday still remains the profitable days for most retailers. SN, CGTN, JHB, SA.