AIB customers set a new benchmark for online spending on Black Friday 2024, completing 1.05 million online card transactions worth €120m in a single day, according to new data published by the bank.
The busiest period fell between 10am and 11am, when shoppers made 68,000 transactions—equivalent to 19 every second—as consumers sought out early discounts ahead of the Christmas rush.
The figures show a significant acceleration in online spending activity compared with the year before.
Transactions rose 10% year-on-year, while the average purchase value increased from €103 in 2023 to €114 in 2024.
Overall online spend climbed 22%, strengthening Black Friday’s position as one of the most important dates in Ireland’s retail calendar.
Jewellery, department stores, hardware and clothing retailers all saw their strongest online trading day of the year on Black Friday.
However, electrical goods bucked the trend, with Cyber Monday on 2 December emerging as the sector’s peak day for online sales.
Regional spending patterns highlighted broad-based growth across the country, with the largest jumps recorded in Westmeath and Sligo (both +28%) and Longford (+27%).
Women continued to drive the majority of online spending in 25 of 26 counties.
The widest gap was in Leitrim, where women accounted for 56% of online spend, followed by Sligo (55%) and Galway (54%). Westmeath was the exception, with men making up 51% of online spending.
Consumers in Dublin (€124.47), Sligo (€119.97) and Cork (€118.83) recorded the highest average spend per transaction.
While most spending took place online, in-store activity remained robust: AIB customers spent €81m in physical shops on Black Friday, a 7% increase on 2023.
AIB’s Head of Consumer, Adrian Moynihan, said: “Black Friday deals are a big draw for consumers, who see it as a good opportunity to stretch their budgets ahead of Christmas.
“There’s also a lot to be said for shopping locally and instore—there’s the unbeatable atmosphere, the chance to support Irish businesses, and often, unique gifts you won’t find online…
“By understanding when and where people spend, we’re helping retailers prepare for busy periods and enabling customers to make smarter choices.”
Adrian Moynihan, AIB
The data is based on approximately 3.4 million anonymised and aggregated card transactions processed by AIB on Black Friday.
The bank also issued fraud awareness advice, urging shoppers to “wait a sec and double check” online offers, verify website security, avoid clicking links in unsolicited messages, and never share banking information or one-time passcodes with callers or third parties.