“Online retailers need to make more of an effort to convince people that it is safe to shop on their site, they must show people why it is safe to shop on the site,” Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx managing director told IT Web Africa.

“Online retailers, the banks and even telecoms operators need to educate the market about the benefits of online and also about the security that is available when shopping online,” he added in response to a newly released MasterCard study titled “MasterCard Online Shopping Behaviour Study.”

Largely because of fraud and minimal efforts — on the behalf of businesses — to secure sites, many South Africans are weary of online shopping.

While online shopping has not declined significantly in South Africa, 90 percent of online consumers say they would spend more money if security was heightened. For 42 percent of online shoppers, their hesitance is attached to online transactions.

Goldstuck  further explained to IT Web Africa that e-commerce across Africa is still in the beginning stages — one of the reasons the realms of online security is too. According to the study, in Kenya four percent of consumers shop online while seven percent of consumers shop online in Nigeria.

In 2013, just over half of South Africa’s 4.6 million internet users shopped online. These consumers have been using the web for at least five years. According to IT Web Africa, online shopping is expected to pick up as frequent use of the web increases.