15 years of online sales tracks kalahari.com shoppers

A review of the top seller summer sales over the past 15 years on the kalahari.com website highlights how the online shopper has evolved and become more comfortable purchasing big ticket items such as tablets and iPods, as opposed to dipping their toes in the water initially and purchasing books and CDs only.

Established in 1998, the site's categories were limited to music, books and film. As the customers' needs evolved, so did the site's offering and today, it has just short of 30 categories selling goods as diverse as hosepipes, speed ropes (sports equipment for exercise) and books in e-format, even stocking the popular novel 'Roped in', from Mills & Boon.

Marketing manager Kirby Gordon says, "Our customers have come along away from Bles Bridges CDs and 'how-to' gardening books in the nineties and have embraced purchases of sewing machines, yoga bricks, gloves for weight training, dog jerseys and lawn mowers. Also, it's no longer a credit card only, it's now e-bucks and EFT payments that allows for a smooth experience."

This local festive season saw a number of locally relevant items topped the lists in various categories.

Summer top sellers over the last 15 years

1998: Titanic (the movie) - (film best-seller)
1999: Body Treatments & Dietetics for the Beauty Therapist by Ann Gallant (book bestseller)
2000: PS Console (games bestseller)
2001: Pearl Harbour (film best-seller)
2002: Diablo II (Games bestseller)
2003: Pirates of the Caribbean (movie)
2004: The Da Vinci Code (books bestseller)
2005: Seisoen by Theuns Jordaan (music)
2006: Fooled by Randomness by Nassin Nicholas Taleb (book)
2007: iPod Shuffle Blue (tech bestseller)
2008: Mamma Mia (movie)
2009: I dreamed a Dream by Susan Boyle (music)
2010: Twilight - Eclipse exclusive sleeve (2 disc special edition) movie
2011: Gobii 7" Colour LCD eReader + R120 eBook voucher (tech)
2012: Gobii 7" Colour LCD eReader + R120 eBook voucher (tech)
2013: Gobii 7" Colour LCD eReader + R120 eBook voucher (tech)