Analysts' predictions have been realised, following another bumper festive season for local e-commerce.
While SA still has a virtual road to travel, industry players say it is fast catching up to the developed world - where online shopping is practically a way of life.
Globally speaking, e-commerce is expected to mushroom profusely going forward. A Business Insider report this week says the e-commerce "boom" is just beginning. Global financial services firm Morgan Stanley's Global Internet and Retail specialists say that what they call the "retail sales disruption" could see e-commerce sales topping $1 trillion by 2016.
Locally, World Wide Worx predicted in its last Online Retail in SA report that e-commerce in SA would continue to grow following the country's entry into a phase of "sustained acceleration" in 2010.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said at the end of 2011, that online retail in SA was growing at a very high rate, and that it would continue to do so. "The growth rate has been 30% or more for three years now." In 2011, the market grew at about the predicted 40% rate - notable, says Goldstuck, in that it is even before a sustained growth in uptake expected from this year forward.
Goldstuck expects this year to be a particularly significant one for the online retail industry. "[2013] is the year when the growth of the number of experienced Internet users in SA begins to accelerate. We call that model the Digital Participation Curve, and the curve will rise steeply from 2013 for the rest of the decade, indicating sustained growth."
He says the Online Retail in SA 2011 report shows online retail only made up 0.3% of overall retail in SA, but this proportion is expected to grow more than tenfold in the coming decade.
Optimistic outlook
With over 20 new players in the market and an overall increase in consumer spend last year, SA's e-tailers are unanimous in their optimistic outlook, largely also thanks to a lucrative 2012 holiday season.
SA's largest online retailer, Kalahari.com, says it had a "bumper" festive season. Liz Hillock, head of marketing at the company, says sales increased by more than 30% on the same period a year ago.
Electronics, she says, proved to be king over the 2012 holidays. "There was a surge in the number of electronic goods that were bought online. Kalahari.com's biggest seller was the seven-inch Gobii e-reader, which sells for R799. An entry-level device, it does not have WiFi or 3G, but enables readers to watch videos and listen to music.
"Other devices that were favourites over this period were the DSTV HD PVR decoder and the LeapPad 2 for kids."
The e-tailer's second-best seller, says Hillock, was the bestseller novel Fifty Shades of Grey, in both physical and e-book form. "Third best was a biltong maker."
South African retail giant Woolworths had a prosperous 2012 overall in terms of its online division, with a 60% increase on 2011's spend.
Nikki Cockcroft, head of online at Woolworths, says e-commerce in SA rose "dramatically" in 2012. "The online market is maturing and bandwidth is becoming cheaper and faster, which improves the user experience and helps to drive sales."
Cockcroft believes online shopping numbers are set to increase radically. "This is a dynamic market that is definitely reaching tipping point."
Online seller of kitchenware Yuppiechef.com could not have wished for a better 2012 - having seen year-on-year growth from December 2011 of close to 90%. The e-tailer says there was a "healthy increase" in the number of people doing their Christmas shopping online.
Yuppiechef.com says these are exciting times, with broadband, accessibility and consumer trust levels key to the market's success. "Equally vital contributing factors are excellent customer service, fast and free delivery, product range, an intuitive shopping process, and a constantly evolving overall user experience."
SA is "well into the swing of the online shopping awakening", it says - although, in relation to the US and UK "we are still in the early stages".
Yuppiechef also notes several new market players joined the local landscape last year, with a number of leading bricks and mortar retailers developing strong online platforms. "We anticipate a continuation of this trend in 2013."
One of those new players, Mr Price, saw an encouraging first holiday season.
As one of SA's oldest retailers, Mr Price joined the online retail arena in July last year. Mr Price e-commerce executive Donovan Baney says Mr Price customers demonstrated their affiliation for online shopping, and the company is "very happy with the sales that we have achieved up to and including our festive season".
Baney says customers used the newly-established e-commerce store to avoid queues in stores, "shopping from the comfort of their homes and offices from mobile devices, tablets and PCs".
He says SA is playing catch-up in the online retail world very quickly. "In markets such as Asia, UK, Europe, Brazil, Australia and the US, online shopping is becoming a way of life, contributing up to 10% of total retail."
He says SA, albeit a latecomer to the game, is seeing growth fuelled by three factors. Firstly, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets; then an increasing penetration of broadband Internet and its falling cost; and lastly the launching of new e-commerce stores across all sectors of retail.
"The retail landscape is changing rapidly, as more and more of our customers move online."
Karla Levick, GM of marketing at SA's second-biggest online retailer Takealot.com, says 2012's Christmas was the biggest for online shopping yet. "We have seen growth rates in excess of 60% versus last year, which is consistent with our growth trend this year."
She says December saw electronics sales at the top, strongly supported by robust beauty and toy sales.
Levick says Takealot sees online shopping as still having tremendous growth potential. "Signs are very encouraging that shoppers are starting to recognise online shopping as a legitimate alternative to bricks and mortar, just like the rest of the world. We believe that this trend will continue."
Consumer confidence
The 2011 festive season was dubbed "the biggest yet for online retail in SA", and 2012 has topped that - a trend analysts say is set to endure.
E-tailers say the fact that consumers are starting to purchase more expensive items - like electronic gadgets - online, shows they are growing more and more at ease with the physical to virtual shift; with the idea of the Internet being the new bricks and mortar.
According to MasterCard (following its Worldwide Online Shopping Survey), the key concerns for online shoppers in SA are price (91%), payment convenience (90%) and secure payment facilities (90%). In terms of payments, 84% of respondents use payment cards or EFTs, and security is becoming less of a concern, with only 38% saying they are not convinced the medium is safe (down from 47% in 2011, and 59% in 2009).
"Propensity for online shopping is heavily dependent on the user's confidence in the entire online eco-system," says Goldstuck.
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