Consumers are increasingly using digital technology for more than just shopping. There is a revolution occurring in how customers access entertainment and media, for example, 38% of global consumers stream entertainment at least daily.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, cord-cutting is also increasingly popular, with 22.9% of consumers streaming movies daily, and 23.9% streaming music daily. Among Gen Z consumers, it is at more than 50%.<\/p>\n
Cord-cutting is the practice of cancelling or forgoing a pay television subscription or landline phone connection in favour of an alternative Internet-based or wireless service.<\/p>\n
The findings are from PwC\u2019s 2019 Global Consumer Insights Survey, which assesses behaviour, habits and expectations of over 21,000 online consumers in 27 territories.<\/p>\n
PwC said there is an increasing trend towards subscription services like Netflix, with people watching less TV, choosing different types of technology, including mobile, to stream.<\/p>\n
Anton Hugo, retail and consumer leader for PwC Africa said: \u201cNot only are consumers the strongest link in the global economic chain, but PwC\u2019s Global Consumer Insights Survey shows that the technological tools available to them have put them in a position to demand a tailored, seamless and multichannel shopping and social-media-powered experience.<\/p>\n
When it comes to news, a third (33%) of South African consumers, compared to 25% of consumers globally, go to social media first to hear about current events.<\/p>\n
The findings also confirm that smartphones have become the go-to technology for online shopping, with more than half (51%) of our global sample of consumers saying they use a smartphone to pay bills and invoices online, and the same percentage transferring money online.<\/p>\n
In South Africa, 63.2% of consumers have used digital channels to pay their bills and invoices in the past 12 months, while 67% have transferred money online.<\/p>\n
For the first time in the 10 years that PwC has conducted this survey, consumers surveyed are using smartphones over other mobile devices to shop online, with 24% of consumers globally (compared to 23.1% in South Africa) using a smartphone to shop online weekly.<\/p>\n