El Buen Fin: Mexico’s Answer to Black Friday with Fashion Dominating 15% of Sales

The Buen Fin kicks off its fifteenth edition. The Mexican discount day, to be held this year from Thursday, November 13th to Monday, November 17th, is preparing to break sales records in an attempt to salvage the campaign from an adverse year for Mexican consumption.

The first edition of El Buen Fin took place in 2011 as a collaboration between the Business Coordinating Council and the federal government with the aim of reactivating domestic consumption, detecting buyers who still resort to informality and strengthening formal trade. The event has always been held with the slogan of being the cheapest weekend of the year, similar to Black Friday in the United States or Boxing Day in the United Kingdom, although El Buen Fin has been since its origins the most extensive campaign, in terms of days of offers.

Giants such as Liverpool, Oxxo or Mercado Libre have been participating in El Buen Fin for years, but small companies and entrepreneurs from sectors ranging from fashion, footwear, household appliances, tourism and even food also join the discount day.

Far from being just a day of discounts, El Buen Fin is the event where brands offer more payment facilities compared to the rest of the year, considering that financing systems for many purchases in countries like Mexico are crucial. A study by the Ipsos agency revealed that, for this year, 70% of consumers plan to go into debt or use a credit card to take advantage of the event.

El Buen Fin 2024 generated almost 2 billion dollars in the online channel

Many of the promotions of late have focused more on payment facilities such as months without interest (MSI in spanish) rather than real price reductions . At the same time, with each end of El Buen Fin, the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) receives complaints about non-compliance with prices or promotions. In the last edition, almost three hundred complaints were registered.

In recent years, El Buen Fin has become more omnichannel, with a mix of offers between physical and digital stores. In the last edition, 35 billion pesos (almost $2 billion) in sales were recorded in the online channel.

Aiming for a record edition

This year, the goal of El Buen Fin is to consolidate in Mexico and position the event as one of the main drivers of domestic consumption. The expectation is to generate revenues in excess of 200,000 Mexican pesos (more than $10 billion), which would represent a 15% growth compared to the Buen Fin of 2024.

The current program has more than 200,000 registered stores and for this new edition 7,000 stores will participate with the national El Buen Fin seal. Participating involves meeting certain requirements such as registering the merchant, having active electronic payment methods, having a registered physical or digital platform, and complying with tax obligations.

Manuel Cardona, director of Government Relations of the National Association of Self-Service and Department Stores (Antad) has stressed in the run-up to the event that “accompanying and training SMEs, sharing good practices and promoting what is made in Mexico” is fundamental for the day. “This union of efforts is what allows consumers to trust and participate with greater enthusiasm every year,“ he added.

Participating involves meeting certain requirements such as registering the business or having active electronic means of payment

The impact on fashion

While Mexicans take advantage of El Buen Fin to make large purchases such as household appliances or travel, fashion has always been one of the main categories.

Brands bet on this day to release stock left over from past collections, while international or smaller firms take advantage of El Buen Fin to gain visibility and implement marketing strategies for notoriety.

Of the total amount transacted, fashion represents 15% of the sales generated in the Buen Fin, with 24.8 billion pesos (more than $1.2 billion) earned in the 2024 edition.