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8 Things You Didn’t Know About Online Shopping In South Africa

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Online Shopping In South Africa

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The popularity of online shopping in South Africa continues to grow, despite difficult economic times. While spending money online used to have security concerns attached to it, these are quickly falling away as online shopping trends expand across the country.

Here we take a look at 8 things that you didn’t know about online shopping in South Africa.

Sources: MoneyWeb, ITNewsAfrica, PopularMechanics, MemeBurn.

Marketingfacts.nl
Online shopping on the rise – Marketingfacts.nl

Online shopping spend expected to top $2.4 billion

Digital payments giant PayPal recently released research forecasting South African online spend to rise to more than $2.4 billion in 2016. This figure is due to the fact that penetration of smartphones is high, making the process of purchasing far easier and accessible to more South Africans.

Thinkstock
Mobile payments are all the rage – Thinkstock

Mobile payments experiencing huge growth

Mobile phones and tablets account for around $792 million total online spend, or around a third of all online shopping from South Africa. This equates to a massive 70% growth on the stats from 2015. By 2017, mobile payments are expected to contribute more than $1.25bn worth of online spend out of  a total estimated $3.03bn, according to the Ipsos survey.

Time.com
Amazon orders – Time.com

South African online shoppers spend offshore

The majority of South Africans who regularly shop online do so on South African sites, but around a third shopped both domestically and cross-border. The countries that South Africans spent their online cash in included the USA, the UK and China. This was due to better prices for certain goods and accessibility to some items that are not available in South Africa. Around $627 million of cross-border spend was estimated in 2015, with most of that going to the US through sites such as EBay and Amazon.

techcentral.co.za
South Africans buy consumer electronics online – techcentral.co.za

The most popular items are…

The research conducted by PayPal demonstrated that South Africans who shopped cross-border online showed an attraction to things such as travel, entertainment, and tickets to events such as sporting competitions. Consumer electronics and clothes were also popular online buys for South Africans, while the most popular category was in the form of digital entertainment or education purchases.

Image: dootrix
Cyber Security concerns hamper online shopping – Image: dootrix

Cyber security is an obstacle to online shopping

Taking a look at the South Africans who do not shop online, their reasons for avoiding the popular medium include cyber security concerns. Around 67 percent said that online security of payments is their reason for not shopping online. A total of 58 percent said that they avoid online shopping because they are worried that the item they receive is not what they are expecting.

Thinkstock
Coupons are a significant attraction for online shoppers – Thinkstock

Coupons and discounts are all the rage

According to the research that was conducted, South African consumers are strongly attracted by the availability of coupons and promotions when shopping online, with 85% of respondents admitting that such deals would encourage them to shop online more often than they currently do. This research shows that South African consumers focus on getting the best value for money.

10924140-naira-notes-make-money-in-nigeria
Nigerians spending money on SA sites

Nigeria shops in SA

Around 70% of South African internet users either shop online or will do in the near future. The Nigerian stat 89%, making SA the second largest market for online shopping. But interestingly, the research shows that South African e-commerce sites are popular amongst online shoppers from Nigeria, with 30% of Nigerian cross-border shoppers having bought products via a South African site during the past year.

garnerdesigns.com
People between 16 and 32 shop online the most – garnerdesigns.com

The younger generation contributes most to online sales

This may not be very surprising, as the younger generation is by far the most comfortable with the technologies involved in online shopping, but what might be a surprise is the percentage involved. A total of 53% of the total online retail income through South Africans comes from the 16-32 age group.