Mr Price Home‚ Sheet Street get online stores

Mr Price Home is now offering a range of product online as well as through its stores. Image: Mall Guide

The retailer‚ which is SA's third-largest clothes retailer by value‚ first ventured into the online shopping environment last year with the launch of Mr Price Apparel's Internet platform.

It has since opened mrp.com‚ an e-commerce offering to international markets.

"We are attracting consumers from New Zealand‚ the UK‚ Australia and the US. We deliver to 71 countries. It's growing very well in SA too. We're not prepared to share numbers at this stage but it's getting very close to one of our top ten stores‚" Mr Price's chief executive Stuart Bird said.

All international orders are distributed from its e-commerce distribution facility in Centurion‚ Pretoria.

By global standards‚ the e-commerce platform in SA is relatively limited but with ever greater numbers of time-poor and technology-savvy shoppers‚ convenience is becoming a key factor. Local retailers are increasingly entering the e-commerce fray‚ highlighting the growing trend towards capturing online trade in a bid to take market share.

Online shopping growing fast

Growth in online shopping has been about 30% for the past five years. Image: Sheet Street

A World Wide Worx study last year found that e-commerce in the retail sector in SA had seen a 30% consecutive year-on-year growth since 2009.

According to Mr Price‚ there were two delivery options available on its website: The first is economy where goods are delivered via the local postal service and the other is an express door-to-door option, which is more expensive.

Roger Tejwani‚ a retail analyst at NOAH Capital Markets said: "Their retail price points are quite low‚ so they can price a little in for the last mile delivery. It sounds like their online business is probably going to break even in the next six months."

Bird said that the group's online sales platform would represent a strong growth opportunity globally and would allow a cost effective test of foreign markets.

This is especially the case in several African countries‚ where space is a constraint, rental costs are high and the sluggish pace of property development and concentrated power create a significant hurdle for expansion.

Woolworths changes its online site

Woolworths, whose number of online shoppers has doubled year-on-year‚ revamped its website in July giving it a fresh look and a number of new features.

Nikki Cockcroft‚ head of online at Woolworths‚ said the group's customers wanted a simpler‚ more seamless integration between online and in-store shopping‚ with the added convenience of being able to access all their favourite products no matter the time‚ place or device.

After the launch of online shopping portals for CNA and Red Square‚ retail group Edcon plans to introduce an online shopping website for its Boardmans chain.

According to Tejwani‚ it was increasingly important for retailers to have a robust e-commerce strategy‚ especially in times when consumers were becoming much more discerning and there was more competition and choice in the market.

Comparative shopping

"South Africans are very good at making price comparisons; they are also getting more comfortable shopping online and shopping through a number of devices. The trend has been growing rapidly‚ but off a fairly low base. People talk about broadband costs and access being an issue at the moment‚ but I think it will bypass the broadband curve and move much more onto smartphones and tablets as it did in India‚" he said.

Tejwani said that once the online shopping market opened up a bit more‚ it would makes it easier for newer brands to come in to SA.

"Historically‚ SA has been a fairly protected market. If you're an offshore retailer looking to come into the country‚ it is very difficult to get the footprint organically without doing a deal with a local retailer. A lot of the retailers here have taken space throughout the cycle‚ even when they probably didn't need it just to keep the international retailers out and protect their margins‚" Tejwani said.

"For example‚ in isolation Zara's four stores in SA aren't really going to achieve much‚ but if online develops‚ it could potentially put ten flagship stores in SA for brand awareness and then drive volume online‚" he said.