As South Africans get more connected online, shopping malls are finding their voice on social media, according the a new report.<\/p>\n
The research compiled by Quirk Education titled Social Media Marketing in South African Shopping Centres, was commissioned by the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC<\/a>).<\/p>\n The report looked at 100 local shopping centres and compiled figures around how connected South Africans, brands and retailers engage online.<\/p>\n SACSC found that, while only 18% of South Africans own a computer, the main drive for online connectivity was mobile, with 84% of the population owning a mobile phone.<\/p>\n Of the connected population, three-quarters are signed up to at least one social media network \u2013 like Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Mxit<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a>, “making these networks significantly more popular than email, which comes in at 66%,” the council said.<\/p>\n According to the report, 59% of South African social media users actively follow brands, while 27% actually discovered unknown brands via social media, SACSC said.<\/p>\n Further data showed that 6.8 million South Africans connect to Facebook via mobile, with Twitter drawing in 2.4 million local tweeters – though Mxit proved to be the most popular mobile social platform with 10 million active users.<\/p>\n “Curiously though, the massive Mxit phenomenon has not been tapped into by the retail sector. Only one in five large brands using it as a marketing tool,” SACSC said.<\/p>\n “The research shows the average shopper visits malls 38 times a year and spends 80 minutes on average per trip,” said SACSC CEO, Amanda Stops<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Increasingly, when we go shopping we take our online lives with us too. Along with airports, shopping centres are the most checked-in venues for South African Facebook users.”<\/p>\n Of the 100 malls surveyed, 65% had an active Facebook presence and 45% were on Twitter, while 43% use email newsletters to talk to their customers.<\/p>\n According to the report, while the proportion of people actually buying via social media is still only 12%, globally it is growing.<\/p>\n “South Africa isn’t far behind the curve. For instance, nearly 10% of local Mxit users actively spent their virtual “Moola” currency in a 30-day window,” Stops said.<\/p>\n According to Stops, the biggest opportunity for malls and connectivity at the moment is Wi-Fi and apps.<\/p>\n “Because of the massive numbers of South Africans who rely on their cell phones for Internet access, we should increasingly see shopping centres providing customers with free, fast in-house Wi-Fi networks.”<\/p>\n Edcon continues online push<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SA e-commerce growing at 30% per annum<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Malls must move beyond shopping to survive in Internet era<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nShopping malls online<\/h3>\n
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