A preliminary report on financial services\u00a0company,\u00a0PwC’s global survey of online shoppers, has revealed that South Africans are making online purchases more frequently and through more channels.<\/p>\n
For its 2013 total retail survey, PwC asked 15,000 consumers from 15 territories – including South Africa – about their purchasing preferences, use of different shopping channels and expectations of retailers.<\/p>\n
According to PwC, collectively, consumers “have set a high bar for retailers” in terms of what they expect from them, by indicating that they want more in-store technology, real-time insight into stock, consistent prices and offerings, and an “always-on,” 24-7 service mentality.<\/p>\n
The report, due out in February, also notes that consumers prefer optimised mobile sites for mobile shopping over dedicated apps, while over 80% of respondents favoured free delivery over bundled shipments and appointment deliveries.<\/p>\n
Looking at South Africa, PwC noted a strong response toward mobile commerce, with large percentages of respondants indicating they had made purchases via mobile (phone and tablet) devices.<\/p>\n
Key highlights from the pwc report include:<\/p>\n
Major online retailers in South Africa have indicated massive growth in mobile commerce channels in 2013.<\/p>\n
On Thursday (23 January) ecommerce fashion website Zando.co.za, announced the celebration of its\u00a0two year anniversary.<\/p>\n
The group said that in 2013, it satisfied online shoppers with a 98% on time delivery rate for their several hundred thousand customers.<\/p>\n
Zando notes that it now offers 20,000 different products online, attracting 1.5 million people to the site each month.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the uAfrica eCommerce Conference in September 2013, Jaco Jonker (CEO of Bidorbuy), Daniel Guasco (CEO of Groupon SA) and Liz Hillock (Head of Marketing at Kalahari.com) noted a significant uptake of customers making purchases through mobile means.<\/p>\n
Jonker revealed that the Bidorbuy had seen 100% growth year-on-year in terms of mobile traffic to the site, but pointed out that average revenue per user (ARPU) still significantly trailed customers who bought through the web interface.<\/p>\n
A survey conducted by Kalahari in June 2013, revealed that purchases made by customers accessing the site on tablets had seen \u201cmeteoric\u201d growth of 70% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
Hillock, speaking to Kalahari\u2019com\u2019s figures, said that, while the e-retailer had noted an increase in mobile users, there was still a significant gap between PC and tablet users, and mobile.<\/p>\n
According to Hillock, Kalahari has invested over R1 million on opening and developing its mobile platforms.<\/p>\n
Mobile commerce faces uphill climb in SA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n MTN pumps R4.27 billion into e-commerce<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Who loses out in the rise of e-commerce?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n