Digital innovation will be key for SA businesses seeking to compete in post-Amazon online retail space
BY SPECNO
JACQUES JORDAAN, CO-FOUNDER & CEO
With a USD 1.60 trillion market cap, the imminent intensification of Amazon’s operations in South Africa will come to shape the practices and standards that characterise and grow the domestic e-commerce landscape.
For consumers and smaller sellers alike, Bezos’ venture into South Africa’s online retail space is a boon, capable of promising lower prices, ease of use, and wider integration with its other services and existing digital infrastructure. The entity’s decision to join the South African market should not, however, be regarded as an inevitable death knell for its many competitors. Instead, it should be used as an effective pace car by local players in the e-commerce space.
Underdeveloped physical and logistical infrastructure, ...