eCommerce market in South Africa
South Africa is the 45th largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$5,573.8 million by 2025, placing it ahead of Ukraine. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2029) of 18.2%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$10,879.1 million by 2029. With an expected increase of 20.3% in 2025, the South African eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 9.8% in 2025. Like in South Africa, global eCommerce sales are expected to increase over the next years. Seven markets are considered by ECDB within the South African eCommerce market. Electronics is the largest market and accounts for 24.8% of the South African eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Fashion with 20.5%, Hobby & Leisure with 19.9%, Furniture & Homeware with 11.7%, Grocery with 8.4%, Care Products with 7.9%, and DIY with the remaining 6.8%.
Monthly revenues
Monthly revenues in the South African eCommerce market
The monthly eCommerce revenue of the South African eCommerce market was US$457 million in January 2025. This refers to a growth of 0.2% compared to December 2024. Within the last 12 months, the monthly revenue share was the highest in December 2024 with 9.8% of the total 2024 revenue of the South African eCommerce market and the lowest in February 2024 with 7.2% of the total 2024 revenue.
Revenue Last Month
US$457.2m
The eCommerce revenue grew by 0.2% from December 2024 to January 2025.
Monthly revenue shares in the last 12 months
| 0-2025 | 1-2025 | 2-2025 | 3-2025 | 4-2025 | 5-2025 | 6-2025 | 7-2025 | 8-2025 | 9-2025 | 10-2025 | 11-2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in mUS$) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Monthly revenue share (in %) | 16.5 | 16.9 | 62.9 | 71.7 | 45.0 | 29.2 | 99.0 | 56.4 | 9.6 | 2.1 | 39.5 | 11.6 |
Market development
eCommerce revenue development in South Africa
South Africa is the 45th largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$5,573.8 million by 2025, placing it ahead of Ukraine. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2029) of 18.2%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$10,879.1 million by 2029. With an expected increase of 20.3% in 2025, the South African eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 9.8% in 2025. Like in South Africa, global eCommerce sales are expected to increase over the next years. Seven markets are considered by ECDB within the South African eCommerce market. Electronics is the largest market and accounts for 24.8% of the South African eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Fashion with 20.5%, Hobby & Leisure with 19.9%, Furniture & Homeware with 11.7%, Grocery with 8.4%, Care Products with 7.9%, and DIY with the remaining 6.8%.
eCommerce revenue development in South Africa
eCommerce revenue growth in South Africa
Net eCommerce revenue split by sub-category
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in mUS$) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Growth (in %) | 3.1 | 17.9 | 9.6 | 11.0 | 51.9 | 93.9 | 59.2 | 64.2 |
Top stores
Top five online stores in South Africa by net sales 2024
The biggest player in the South African eCommerce market is takealot.com. The store had a revenue of US$359.8 million in 2024. Store rankings include every store that generates revenue in South Africa. These stores can either have a national focus and only sell in their main country or operate on a global scale. For this evaluation, only revenue created in South Africa was considered.
eCommerce net sales generated in South Africa in 2024
| Filtered revenue / share eCommerce net sales refer to the year 2024 | Global revenue eCommerce net sales refer to the year 2024 | Growth eCommerce net sales growth refers to 2024/2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
US$900.0m 20.7% | US$8,300.0m | 8.3% | |
US$550.0m 12.0% | US$4,600.0m | 12.4% | |
US$470.0m 3.9% | US$1,190.0m | 33.6% | |
US$430.0m 20.6% | US$2,122.0m | 18.0% | |
US$370.0m 20.7% | US$1,814.0m | 12.6% |
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Payment Methods
Top 5 offered payment methods in the South African eCommerce market
The South African eCommerce market in 2024 in terms of offered payment methods is fragmented and dominated by a few providers with VISA (Cards) covering the largest share with 90.6% of all online stores checked. Other offered payment methods in the South African eCommerce market in 2024 are Mastercard (Cards) with 90.6%, Bank transfer/cash in advance (Bank transfer) with 55.1%, and Mobicred (Installment) with 39.9%. With 30.4% Ozow (E-wallets) has already a significantly smaller coverage compared to VISA (Cards).
Top 5 offered payment methods in the South African eCommerce market
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