Latest Report reveals a big increase in the number of people in South Africa who go online shopping.
The EM e-Commerce Industry Report 2016, published by Effective Measure (EM), in conjunction with Visa, showed that as many as 23% of 12,000 respondents go online to shop at least once a month.
More than half (56%) are shopping online on a weekly or monthly basis vs 45% who shop online on a yearly basis.
14% go online shopping at least once a week, the report said, with nearly two in 10 (19%) going online ‘a couple of times a month’.
With the increasing availability of online shopping in South Africa, the report reveals that consumers have purchased these 10 items the most:
Books (29%)
Tickets for events (28%)
Travel tickets (28%)
Hotel reservations (22%)
DVDs, videos, or music (22%)
Software (19%)
Holiday Packages (16%)
Clothes and accessories (14%)
Flowers and gifts (12%)
Toys and games (10%)
41% of respondents responded that the most important assurance they look for when purchasing online is guaranteed returns, and 59% said that a payment option of "on delivery" would inspire them to purchase more frequently online.
Card payments are preferred when it comes to purchasing products online, with 58% of respondents indicating that they prefer to pay with a card and 23% of respondents indicating that they would rather pay when the goods are delivered.
Other important takeaways from the survey include the fact that fifty percent of internet consumers in South Africa had a household income of more than twenty thousand rand, and more than sixty percent have full-time jobs.
Users love shopping online for a number of reasons, the most prominent of which are the time savings, access to product reviews, special deals, and price comparisons.
The majority of South African online shoppers are pleased with the fact that their orders typically arrive within five business days of placing them.
Young SA consumers who choose not to shop online, do so due to the fact that they do not have access to credit facilities.
Source: businesstech.co.za/news