How People from KwaZulu-Natal Buy Online

E-commerce is now becoming one of the fastest developing branches of the economy. While online shopping growth surged to 24.8% globally in 2017 when comparing to the previous year, 58% of South African internet users are shopping online.

And how does South Africa e-commerce activity stand when looking particularly at KwaZulu-Natal consumers?

We’ve analyzed several millions of online transactions made by users in 2017 to find out precisely how much money is being spent as per types of users’ devices, hottest months for e-shopping, most popular days of the week and even favourite time of the day. Our report helps to understand how does KwaZulu-Natal compare with South Africa as a whole.

KwaZulu-Natal’s statistics

KwaZulu-Natal internet users are likely to choose mobile devices over the traditional desktop PCs or laptops—almost 60% of all the analysed transactions were made via smartphone. 32% are purchases made using the computer, while tablet shopping is—unsurprisingly—only 8%.

When it comes to the average spendings, desktop PCs or laptop users tend to spend the lowest amount of their money—just R408 of average cart value—whereas tablet shoppers are spending slightly above R474. Smartphones e-shopping is clearly the stake winner averaging R710. There is an interesting R167 difference between Android and iOS users’ expenses: R793 for the former and R627 for the latter.

When comparing months, the last quarter of the year is characterized by the highest shopping activity. On the contrary—according to our study—users are not keen on buying online during the first half of the year. The most obvious reason for the discrepancy is the fact that South African consumers take full advantage of the shopping festivals taking place during the final months of the year. Needles to mention that in November, when Black Friday and Cyber Monday are celebrated, the average order value rises up to almost R368.

Which day of the week is the most popular amongst the inhabitants of KwaZulu-Natal? Both groups—computers and smartphones users—choose Friday.

For the sake of thoroughness, we’ve also divided 24 hours into equal parts to better understand which time of the day is the most popular for doing online shopping. At night (midnight to 6 AM) KwaZulu-Natal users are finalizing only 6% of the total purchases. In the morning this percentage increases to 29%, reaching its peak during the day (noon to 6 PM)—almost 40% of daily online orders in KwaZulu-Natal are made during these hours. In the evening (6PM to midnight), on the orther hand, this amount decreases to 29%

When shopping online KwaZulu-Natal users most often buy clothes, as well as home and garden amenities. Electronics are also among the most popular products.

KwaZulu-Natal vs South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal, when comparing to the whole South Africa, is one of the first provinces in terms of spending money online. The average KwaZulu-Natal user’s order value—R531—is much higher than the average for the whole country—R477. The one real difference is noticeable when comparing tablet users’ spendings, where the average cart of a mobile consumer from KwaZulu-Natal is R57 higher than the average South Africa mobile consumer, and – digging even deeper – the average cart of iOS user from KwaZulu-Natal is just R14 higher.

Let’s look at the full rank as well. As mentioned, KwaZulu-Natal is placed at high position, namely, it took third place when it comes to the amount of money being spent on online shopping. The difference between the last positioned Mpumalanga is quite big—R118.

1. Western Cape—R546
2. Eastern Cape—R539
3. KwaZulu-Natal—R531
4. Gauteng—R469
5. North West—R464
6. Limpopo—R458
7. Free State—R440
8. Northern Cape—R433
9. Mpumalanga—R413

Ubuy, Banggood and Wish are the most popular marketplaces in KwaZulu-Natal, however, not many users know that shopping in those places can be made even better with cashback. All you have to do is activate it in Picodi before each purchase.

Methodology

The study refers to the online purchases being made by South Africa consumers using desktop and mobile devices in 2017.

Sources

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/288487/forecast-of-global-b2c-e-commerce-growt/
• https://techcentral.co.za/big-growth-in-online-shopping-in-sa/71943/
• https://www.itpro.co.uk/hardware/30467/tablet-sales-decline-for-the-13th-quarter-in-a-row

Fair Use Statement

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