- World Wide Worx, Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika surveyed 16 000 South Africans to gauge how well ecommerce is being received.
- Spending online in 2023 grew 29 percent to R71 billion.
- While more money is being spent than ever before, the majority of South Africans are still worried about shopping online.
South Africa has been steadily embracing ecommerce and online shopping as highlighted in a new study conducted by World Wide Worx, Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika.
Throughout 2023, South Africans spent a collective R71 billion online compared to R55 billion in 2022, an increase of 29 percent.
Despite these gains, 18.6 percent of the 16 000 South Africans surveyed believe that shopping online is safe and secure. This shows that retailers need to educate consumers about shopping online and how to do so safely as the majority of locals still don’t trust keying their credit card information into a website.
This, the study highlights, represents a growing comfort among South Africans when it comes to shopping online. While growth in the last three years was largely driven by COVID-19 and lockdown, competition in the ecommerce market has been fierce of late with multiple ways to shop and never leave the house.
“As South Africans move more of their spending online, they also become more confidents in the medium, and increase their individual levels of spending. Most significantly, they are becoming more aware of the increased convenience and choice available online.,” comments founder and executive chair of Ask Afrika, Andrea Rademeyer.
When it comes to grocery deliveries, Checkers Sixty60 saw sales increase 63.1 percent but Pick n Pay saw the biggest growth with online sales climbing by 76 percent. Woolworths saw its online sales increase 47 percent while Takealot only saw sales grow by 6 percent.
While Takealot’s figures are low, we suspect that the launch of Takealot Now, which promises deliveries within an hour, will help bump that growth slightly.
“The strategic shift towards competitive e-commerce offerings and enhanced customer engagement, including sophisticated AI-driven tools, has fundamentally transformed the retail landscape in South Africa,” says chief executive officer of World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck.
Looking at why South Africans abandon carts, the study found that 52.2 percent of carts are abandoned because a card payment was declined. This highlights an appetite to shop online and at the same time, how much folks are currently struggling financially.
It’s forecast that by 2026, South Africans will be spending in excess of R100 billion online. If that is to materialise, online retailers are going to have to do more to bring the shoppers who fear going online, into their digital stores.
[Image – Gabrielle Ribeiro on Unsplash]
