Takealot Online continued to benefit from strong brand equity, extensive promotional campaigns, and digital capabilities to gain sales momentum in South Africa. Moreover, the leading player of e-commerce also leveraged its logistics capabilities that include over 80 collection points at a national level, as well as a consolidated shipping model with Superbalist and Mr D Food that allows the platform to take advantage of a network of over 15,000 drivers.
As retailers tightened their credit policies when consumers were restricted to their homes during the pandemic, start-up Payflex witnessed significant growth in demand, with its consumer base reaching 120,000 in Q2 2021 from an initial 2,000 in 2019, while the number of merchants saw a jump from 70 to over 800 over the same period. Introduced in 2019, the platform offers general merchandise, beauty and personal care products, as well as apparel and footwear, which can be paid in four equal instalments and free of interest.
Historically, the South African Post Office (SAPO) has been involved in B2C logistic services through strategic partnerships with operators across channels such as homeshopping and direct selling, due to relatively low costs and an extended footprint that allows such players to reach their target audience. However, as demand for e-commerce goods continues to notably rise, the service has become increasingly relevant for international players with business models that rely on affordability.
E-commerce is predicted to remain a dynamic performer over the forecast period, as low penetration provides higher growth opportunities across the South African retailing landscape. The performance will also be supported by the persistent influx of new users across mid- and high-income groups, increasing awareness, diversified offers, as well as improved safety regarding payment systems.
As consumers’ behaviour shifts from traditional window shopping to online browsing, it will give room to further price discoveries, supported by platforms such as PriceCheck that has been gaining momentum over the review period. The trend will be challenging for businesses that rely on discounted models, due to intense price competition.
As competition intensifies within online grocery retailing, players will develop new strategies to improve their services. Such trends will give room to a new generation of quick services aimed at meeting consumers’ higher expectations.
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Sales of consumer goods to the general public via the Internet. Please note that this includes sales through mobile phones and tablets (i.e. m-commerce). E-commerce includes sales generated through pure e-commerce websites and through sites operated by store-based retailers. Sales data is attributed to the country where the consumer is based, rather than where the retailer is based. The definition of e-commerce is agnostic as to where actual payment takes place; if an order is initiated online, it is considered to be an e-commerce transaction, even if the order is ultimately paid for in-store (or elsewhere). As a result, all ‘click-and-collect’ and ‘collect-at-store’ transactions are counted as e-commerce sales. E-commerce excludes sales of: (a) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales, although please note that sales between businesses and consumers (i.e. B2C sales) on sites such as eBay are included; (b) Sales of motor vehicles, motorcycles and vehicle parts; (c) Tickets for events (sports, music concerts, etc.) and travel; (d) Sales of travel and holiday packages; (e) Revenue generated by online gambling sites; (f) Returned products/unpaid invoices; and (h) Internet sales from direct selling companies, as these are tracked in Direct Selling market size/shares. Example e-commerce brands include Amazon.com, Zappos.com, Apple.com, iTunes, Rakuten, Tesco.com, Dell.com, Coles Online, etc. 3rd Party Merchant sales through online marketplaces, such as Amazon.com, eBay.com and Walmart.com, are included and split out in shares. 3rd party merchants are the summation of sales that come from businesses that are present on an online marketplace (e.g. Amazon, Alibaba). Marketplaces are websites that allow multiple merchants to sell on the marketplace website, with the marketplace operator processing the transactions, but many marketplaces provide offer other services as to help with shipping, handling, payment, and product storage. The marketplace is not the merchant of record legally, but for the sake of shares, sales from 3rd part merchants are attributed to the marketplace brand operator.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our E-Commerce (Goods) research and analysis database.
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