CAPE TOWN -
Covid-19 has changed the way most South Africans will be shopping in the future as e-commerce is currently seeing a surge in transactions.
A study conducted by Nielsen which looked into the impact of the national lockdown on consumer behaviour showed 37 percent of respondents now shopping online.
“South Africa’s online grocery-shopping penetration and usage has also been quite a niche and of the 58 percent of South Africans with internet access, only 1-2 percent had regularly purchased food and groceries online, and only 8 -10 percent have purchased in the past year,” said Nielsen South Africa Retailer lead Gareth Paterson.
“However, one-third of consumers had expressed a willingness to shop online. This, coupled with the current lockdown scenario means there is likely to be prolonged behavioural changes in in-store and online shopping with services like click and collect, automated online subscriptions and personal shopping all having the potential for growth,” he said.
With consumers opting to stay clear from shopping malls, Paterson said that online shopping platforms for groceries, medicines, and other necessary items have seen a surge in usage over the last few weeks.
Their consumer study forecasts a permanent uplift in online shopping numbers which could turn into long term habits post-pandemic.
LIVE updates on the Coronavirus pandemic, follow us on Twitter:
@sacoronamonitor