South Africa’s e-commerce growth story has a blind spot: millions of connected consumers still aren’t buying online. For retailers, making digital shopping easier could unlock a new pool of customers.
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South Africa’s online retail market is forecast to reach R159bn in 2026, but just 34.2% of adults shop online. Retailers should focus on the barriers keeping potential customers from buying.
The untapped online market
The Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report, produced by World Wide Worx with Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika, found that 79.1% of South African adults use the internet, yet only 34.2% shop online.
For retailers, this gap represents an opportunity beyond competing for existing customers. High delivery costs, minimum-order requirements, payment uncertainty, data costs and limited delivery coverage can all discourage first-time purchases.
Making delivery fees clear upfront, simplifying checkout and explaining payment problems can help remove some of these barriers.
Test beyond office Wi-Fi
A shopping website that works on a new smartphone and fast Wi-Fi may struggle on an entry-level device or a slow mobile connection.
Retailers should test their Black Friday journeys under real-world conditions, looking for slow-loading pages, confusing forms and checkout processes that fail when connectivity drops. Preserving baskets and making order status easy to check can also help customers recover when something goes wrong.
An app is not necessarily the answer, either. The report found that browsers were more widely used for purchases than apps in 42 of the 48 product categories measured. A fast, reliable mobile website may be more useful to occasional shoppers than a forced app download.
Look beyond the Black Friday sale
Winning a first purchase is only the beginning. Late deliveries, poor tracking and inaccessible customer support can quickly erode trust, regardless of how attractive the original discount was.
Retailers should measure how many first-time shoppers complete their orders, whether they return and what obstacles they encounter. These insights can show whether Black Friday spending is building lasting customer relationships or simply generating a short-term sales spike.
With millions of South Africans already online but not shopping digitally, the opportunity is clear: make buying easier, more reliable and accessible, and give new customers a reason to return after the discounts end.
