TINTSWALO BALOYI

JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH Africans are increasingly adopting  e-commerce to perform transactions.

This is according to an industry report indicating locals have shown a  growing confidence in e-commerce with a notable 56 percent of the  respondents indicating that they have shopped online between December 2015  and March 2016.

According to surveyors, consumers felt most comfortable doing their first online payment with bill payment merchants, while automobile merchants may eed to polish up their e-commerce skills as they ranked lowest with only 7 percent of consumers feeling comfortable making their first    online purchase with them. Marketers can take note of what South African online shoppers look for before making a purchase.

Some 41 percent of the 12 000 respondents indicated that the overriding assurance they look for when shopping online is guaranteed returns and 59 percent say that an “on delivery” payment option would motivate them to purchase online more often.

Other key insights from the EM e-Commerce Industry Report include 50 percent of online shoppers in South Africa having a household income of R20 000+ with over 60 percent working full-time jobs.
Some 57 percent of SA online shoppers are either in a relationship or married.

While card payments are preferable shoppers indicated that they would make use of cards more frequently if purchase discounts are offered as incentives.

The four main reasons users enjoy shopping online include time saving, product review access, special offers and price comparisons.

– Gauteng