2010 online buying trends

The company believes that as its site has over 573 000 registered users and almost half a million items on sale at any given moment, so it provides a statistically viable basis for such insights.

Every month, between 25 000 and 30 000 buyers make one or more purchases from 5 000 to 7 000 sellers, totalling R30 million, of which 98% is local buying. Figures for July to September 2010 reveal the top two categories as jewellery & watches and rare/collectible coins & notes.

However, computers, now in the third category, showed a 60% increase on last year's 3Q sales. These sales are eight times more likely to be a notebook (or variants) than they are likely to be a desktop computer: during one week in November, there were 218 mobile computing devices sold on the site, as opposed to only 27 desktops.

Christmas toys show high growth

Other consumables making notable inroads are cellphones, electronics, home supplies, digital cameras and sports equipment, completing the top ten choices. Clothing, shoes and accessories have been growing steadily and are expected to make their way into the top ten, indicating that South Africans are increasingly opting for the convenience of buying fashion off the net.

As usual in pre-holiday times, the trade in toys is poised to increase sharply. In terms of volume of sales (as opposed to value), toys have recently climbed to third place, with over 1360 toys sold during the first week of November.