SA shoppers migrating online
A new survey conducted by financial services company, PwC has noted a migration of online shoppers in South Africa over the past year.
The report, titled Achieving ‘Total Retail’ is based on a 2013 survey of more than 15,000 online shoppers in 15 different territories, including South Africa.
As many as a quarter of South Africans reported that it had been less than one year since their first online purchase, while the global average was 19%.
Moreover, Moneyweb reported that the number of new online shoppers in SA has increased by 45% over the past two years.
The research found that SA online shoppers are between the ages of 25-34 and 53% are female, while people residing in Gauteng place the most online orders.
The survey revealed that, with the advent of online shopping, mobile technology and social media, consumer expectations have shifted, forcing traditional retail business models to evolve.
Brazil and South Africa were where the online users most worried about the security of their personal data. Of those Brazilian online users who didn’t shop online, 60% mention personal data security concerns, the second highest percentage answer.
In South Africa, that percentage was 61%, the most common choice. However, PwC suggests this mistrust of online security could be rooted in the fact that this country had the highest percentage of new online shoppers in our survey.
According to PwC, in today’s world the concept of “multichannel shopping” is a given, and current business models treat the different modes of shopping – physical retail, online or mobile – as separate channels to consumers.
But “digitally empowered” customers, who have become more tech-savvy than retailers, have embraced show-rooming, learned how to exploit shopping data for deals, and become experts at taking advantage of online coupons and offers.
So, too, customers wield power online through social media to promote or skewer brands, based on their shopping experiences.
PwC noted a 50% increase in weekly online shoppers between 2012 and 2013, and a spike in mobile shopping – led by China – where 7% of shoppers made purchases via smartphone (2012: 1.5%) and 11% on tablets (2012:0.5%)
Mobile shopping
“Both tablets and smartphones are gaining traction, even as purchases via a PC continue to dominate the online purchasing process,” PwC said.
“Today, consumers empowered by technology have enormous expectations that raise the bar for every part of a retail organisation,” PwC said.
Consumers have set a high bar for retailers, “compelling in-store technology, an ‘always-on’ 24/7 service mentality, real-time insight into product availability at individual stores, and consistent prices and offerings across a retailer’s assets”.
According to PwC, consumers now expect:
- A compelling brand story that promises a distinctive experience;
- Favorite retailers are everywhere;
- Customized offers based on totally protected, personal preferences and information;
- To maximize the value of mobile shopping, both store apps and mobile sites must improve;
- An enhanced and consistent experience across all devices;
- Two-way social media engagement;
- Transparency, real time, into a retailer’s inventory;
- “Brands” act like retailers, and we’ll treat them that way.
Total Retail as a model
“Our survey shows that consumers have become agnostic about channel and want a unified customer experience,” the firm said.
In order to achive the “total retail” experience, business would need to adapt their models to cover four main areas.
Retailers must focus on customer analystuics in order to provide convenient and personalised transactions experiences, while integrating technology, platforms and systems to provide services to anyone, anywhere.
Companies would also have to optimise their supply chains and become more customer-focused instead of focusing on the channels.
“We see an increasing need for a chief customer officer who ‘owns’ the customer experience and what we call the ‘demand chain’ part of the business, such as marketing, social media or customer service centers,” PwC said.
“If retailers can refocus on customer expectations as the foundation of their business model, the building blocks they need will flow from there.”
Survey Demographics
More on online retail
The rise of the e-commerce economy
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