Online comparison shopping website PriceCheck hopes to use the expertise of media conglomerate Naspers' other internet subsidiaries to grow its revenue in the next year.
PriceCheck, a price and product comparison website launched in 2006 by entrepreneur Kevin Tucker, was recently bought by Naspers subsidiary MIH Internet Africa.
"The main impetus behind the move was to acquire the resources Naspers' other subsidiaries offer in order to cement our position as one of the leading price and comparison websites in South Africa," Tucker said.
He cited the company's sister companies in Brazil and Poland as instrumental to harnessing the knowledge the group would need in future.
Last year Naspers expanded its business interests in Brazil when it acquired a major stake in the country's leading e-commerce group BuscaPe.com. BuscaPé, with headquarters in São Paulo, is one of Latin America's top e-commerce services providers. BuscaPé is the exclusive provider of internet shopping solutions for more than 100 portals and websites in Latin America.
Tucker admitted that PriceCheck would need MIH Internet Africa's expertise as the online shopping market in South Africa was becoming quite competitive.
Other price comparison websites include jump.co.za and shopmania.co.za.
Arthur Goldstuck, the managing director of World Wide Worx, said in South Africa the online shopping market was still in its infancy: "In fact jump.co.za and PriceCheck were the pioneers in this market. However, it is a market that will still evolve and has tremendous growth potential."
Goldstuck believed the growth potential of the online shopping market in South Africa was one of the key reasons Naspers bought PriceCheck: "In the UK it is already a massive industry."
According to Goldstuck, only 12 percent of the South African population had regular access to the internet but the expectation was that this market would " explode within the next three years".
"We believe it is part of Naspers' strategy to begin to position itself for when this explosion takes place," he said.
Tucker added: "The online comparison market has the potential to be big business in South Africa.
"According to the BBC, the comparison market in the UK is reported to be worth more than £1 billion (R11.1bn) a year," he said. He added that the internet was no longer the preserve of the wealthy.
He said: "A recent shopping trends survey revealed that 30 percent of South African internet users had an average household income of R10 000 or less and 82 percent turn to the internet for information when first considering a purchase."
According to the survey of nearly 1 400 respondents, most consumers are looking for flights, books or electronic equipment online. "Through the provision of price and product comparisons, reviews and a search engine that delivers results from over 170 online stores, the site empowers customers by providing them with tools to make purchase decisions," Tucker said.
The group has partnerships with retailers such as Makro, Incredible Connection and Hi-Fi Corporation.