The key drivers that would encourage South African online shoppers to shop online more often are lower product costs (88% of online shoppers say this would make them more likely to shop online), faster delivery (selected by 85% of online shoppers), flexible delivery options (selected by 82% online shoppers) and safer ways to pay (selected by 75% online shoppers), according to a survey conducted by Ipsos, a global market research company, and commissioned by PayPal.
In fact, 71% of current online shoppers indicated that, if they did not have to keep re-entering payments or delivery details, they would be more likely to shop online more often. Meanwhile, one out of two (51%) South African online shoppers indicated that not having to register to a website to make a purchase would make them shop online more often.
When asked about main barriers for online shopping, 67% of non-online shoppers indicated that online security of payments is a reason for not shopping online, while 58% of those who have not shopped online say that concerns about not receiving items they have ordered is a reason they don’t shop online. As a result, over one million South African PayPal accounts have been opened. 59% of online shoppers who are aware of PayPal agree that PayPal is the safest online payment method. Overall, South Africans who have heard of PayPal think it is fast (80%), convenient (80%) and a safe (74%) way to pay.
South African consumers are big fans of coupons and promotions, with 85% of online shoppers indicating that it would encourage them to shop online more often. The focus on promotions and online safety makes South African online shoppers savvy. The most popular shopping categories for South Africans online are digital goods (purchased by 52% of online shoppers in the past 12 months), event tickets (purchased by 50%), travel or transportation (45%), and fashion, consumer electronics and physical entertainment (all purchased by 38%).
Looking at future behaviour, 58%-70% of online shoppers indicate that they expect to spend the same or more on those categories online next year. About 50% of online shoppers who own a smartphone or a feature phone have used it to shop online, while an additional 21% expect to do so in the future. Significantly, mobile phones are making shopping more convenient. 70% of mobile shoppers use their phone to shop from their home or office.
Searching on mobile devices when shopping is also a common trend with 94% of mobile shoppers saying they use their phone to search for information about products, stores or businesses. In addition, 62% of mobile shoppers use their phone to compare product prices while shopping in store. In regard to browser preferences, 45% of mobile shoppers prefer to shop by using an app while 26% of mobile shoppers prefer to shop from a mobile browser.
However, some barriers remain to mobile shopping, including 51% of those who have shopped on a mobile stating that the experience is not user friendly while 42% flag security concerns when shopping from mobile. With 70% of South African internet users shopping online or expecting to shop online in future, South Africa has the second largest number of potential online shoppers, compared to Nigeria (89%) and Kenya (60%).
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