Black Friday is a month away and one of SA’s biggest retailers is gearing up for a run on ... toilet paper.

Revealing the items that sold well on Black Friday last year, Pick n Pay said “pantry items” flew out of its stores.

Marketing executive John Bradshaw said popular items included long-life milk, sugar, coffee, rice, washing powder and toilet paper.

Tennis biscuits were also a favourite. “Last year we sold enough Bakers Original tennis biscuits to make about 1,640,000 peppermint crisp tarts,” he said.

Bradshaw said planning for 2019’s Black Friday, on November 29, began immediately after last year’s frenzy.

“We need to gauge what deals customers loved and how we can improve them still further,” he said. “Customers have two priorities on Black Friday: they want to stock up on basic food items, but they also want to spoil themselves.”

Pick n Pay is planning to beef up staffing in its stores and bolster its online-shopping and technology systems.