Michael Cotterell, general manager of online shopping at Pick n Pay, says m-commerce "is in its infancy".
He says that outside of service-related products such as electricity or airtime, there are still too many infrastructure barriers in South Africa.
Cotterell is among the key speakers at Retail Congress Africa, which opened in Cape Town yesterday. He joins about 200 other experts who will discuss trends and challenges in the African retail sector.
Cotterell said because of the slow uptake of m-commerce, mobile technology had been used to leverage marketing opportunities rather than actual retail.
This is despite the fact that in South Africa, mobile penetration keeps growing.
According to a Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers study, 57% of the country's internet traffic now comes from cellphones, and this is a far higher percentage "than many other developing countries".
Cape Town resident Peter Langeman, 29, said: "I have bought things like songs [on iTunes] but I feel a barrier towards other types of purchases. It just feels a bit flimsy. On a laptop, I can see the whole screen and enter my details and it feels more reliable. I see something I like on my phone but only buy it from my computer."
A GSMA Mobile 360 Series report last month said mobile shopping would become a key component in the growth of the overall digital commerce market within Sub-Saharan Africa.
Other retail trends that have emerged in South Africa are shopping malls with niche shops rather than "replicated larger stores".
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
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