As South Africa’s online retail market grows, retailers have an opportunity beyond competing for customers who already shop digitally: making the first purchase easier for people who remain outside the market.
The Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report, produced by World Wide Worx in partnership with Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika, forecasts online retail sales of R159 billion in 2026. That would represent approximately 22.5% annual growth and around 10% of national retail turnover.
Those figures are forecasts for the full year. Separately, consumer research underpinning the report, based on 23,910 interviews conducted during 2025, found that 79.1% of South African adults use the internet, while 34.2% shop online.
The difference does not establish why each non-shopper stays away. It does, however, highlight the limits of treating internet access as equivalent to participation in online retail.
For Joshua Harvey, CEO of digital product consultancy Specno, the gap should influence how retailers prepare for Black Friday.
“A growing online market can disguise how many people are still outside it,” says Harvey. “Retailers need to ask whether they are making it easier for someone to buy online for the first time, or simply making more offers to people who already know how.”
Make delivery costs visible before checkout
The report identifies delivery charges, minimum-order requirements, unreliable delivery outside major urban areas, payment concerns, data costs and limited local-language support among the barriers to wider participation.
Some of these challenges extend beyond the design of a website. Within the shopping journey, however, retailers can examine when customers discover essential information.
“A first-time shopper should not have to reach the final screen to discover whether you deliver to their area or what delivery costs,” says Harvey.
Checking delivery availability early and showing charges before checkout can help customers understand whether a purchase is practical before they spend time completing it.
Harvey also recommends explaining payment steps in plain language and making assistance easy to find. Where feasible, guest checkout can remove the requirement to create an account before buying.
These are practical recommendations, rather than results from a client case study supplied for this article. Their effect will depend on the retailer, its customers and how changes are implemented.
Test beyond office Wi-Fi
A shopping journey that works smoothly on a recent smartphone over a fast connection may present a different experience on an entry-level device using mobile data.
Specno recommends testing those conditions before increasing promotional spending. Retailers can examine whether large images delay loading, pop-ups obscure important information, forms are difficult to complete or a dropped connection forces a shopper to restart.
“If your team has only tested the promotion on a recent phone over office Wi-Fi, there is more testing to do,” says Harvey.
“Ask someone unfamiliar with your store to complete a purchase on a basic device. Watch where they hesitate, what they misunderstand and whether they can begin again easily when something fails.”
Such testing can identify obstacles that an internal team, already familiar with the store, may overlook. Retailers can then prioritise changes based on observed difficulties rather than assumptions about what customers need.
Give interrupted payments a clear next step
An interrupted payment can leave a shopper uncertain about whether an order exists or money has been taken.
“And if a payment is interrupted, they need a clear answer: did the order go through, was money taken and what should they do next?” says Harvey. “That moment can determine whether they trust you enough to continue or try again.”
Specno recommends preserving basket contents when connectivity drops and providing a reliable way to check an order’s status before attempting payment again.
Retailers should also examine where customers leave the journey across different devices and connection conditions, then investigate the reasons with users. An abandonment figure can identify a point worth examining; it does not, by itself, explain the cause.
Choose the channel around the shopping need
The research also raises a question about the priority retailers give to apps. Browsers were more widely used for purchases than apps in 42 of the 48 categories measured.
That finding does not make apps unnecessary. It suggests that the choice should reflect how customers shop and how often they need the service.
“Investment should follow the frequency and nature of the customer’s need,” says Harvey. “An app may offer meaningful convenience to someone who shops regularly, while an occasional buyer may simply need a fast mobile website.”
For retailers, the practical task is to establish whether a proposed app solves a recurring customer problem or introduces another step before someone can buy.
Measure what happens after the first sale
Black Friday performance should also be assessed after promotional traffic subsides, Harvey argues.
Delivery promises, tracking, accessible support and understandable returns processes shape the experience after checkout. A first purchase is therefore only part of the customer relationship.
“Black Friday can buy you attention and a first sale. The experience that follows determines whether you have earned a customer,” says Harvey.
“If the parcel is late, tracking is unhelpful and nobody answers a query, the discount becomes the least memorable part of the purchase.”
Specno recommends tracking how many first-time customers complete their orders successfully, what support they require and whether they buy again in the following months. These measures can help retailers assess whether acquisition spending is developing into repeat business.
For South African retailers, the opportunity is to examine the full journey: discovering delivery costs, completing payment, receiving an order and obtaining help when something goes wrong.
“Your next customer may already be online, already know your brand and already want what you sell,” says Harvey. “The opportunity is to remove what stops them buying and give them a reason to return when the discount is gone.”
Related reading: Family Tech Support: What South African Banks and Digital Services Can Learn.
