eCommerce market in South Africa
South Africa is the 50th largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$3,765.4 million by 2024, placing it ahead of Belarus. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 9.4%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$5,386.0 million by 2028. With an expected increase of 12.3% in 2024, the South African eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 10.1% in 2024. 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 25.8% of the South African eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Fashion with 20.7%, Hobby & Leisure with 19.9%, Furniture & Homeware with 11.5%, Care Products with 7.8%, Grocery with 7.3%, and DIY with the remaining 6.9%.
Monthly revenues
Monthly revenues in the South African eCommerce market
The monthly eCommerce revenue of the South African eCommerce market was US$304 million in October 2024. This refers to a growth of 0.8% compared to September 2024. Within the last 12 months, the monthly revenue share was the highest in November 2023 with 9.2% of the total 2023 revenue of the South African eCommerce market and the lowest in February 2024 with 7.6% of the total 2024 revenue.
Revenue Last Month
US$303.6m
The eCommerce revenue grew by 0.8% from September 2024 to October 2024.
Monthly revenue shares in the last 12 months
| 0-2024 | 1-2024 | 2-2024 | 3-2024 | 4-2024 | 5-2024 | 6-2024 | 7-2024 | 8-2024 | 9-2024 | 10-2024 | 11-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in mUS$) | 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 %) | 82.2 | 99.7 | 84.2 | 17.6 | 28.5 | 94.4 | 27.4 | 32.4 | 56.2 | 32.0 | 59.3 | 43.2 |
Market development
eCommerce revenue development in South Africa
South Africa is the 50th largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$3,765.4 million by 2024, placing it ahead of Belarus. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 9.4%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$5,386.0 million by 2028. With an expected increase of 12.3% in 2024, the South African eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 10.1% in 2024. Like in South Africa, global eCommerce sales are expected to increase over the next years. Seven markets are considered by ECDB within the South African eCommerce market. Electronics is the largest market and accounts for 25.8% of the South African eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Fashion with 20.7%, Hobby & Leisure with 19.9%, Furniture & Homeware with 11.5%, Care Products with 7.8%, Grocery with 7.3%, and DIY with the remaining 6.9%.
eCommerce revenue development in South Africa
eCommerce revenue growth in South Africa
Net eCommerce revenue split by sub-category
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (in mUS$) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Growth (in %) | 17.9 | 90.3 | 25.7 | 83.4 | 64.0 | 52.2 | 34.4 | 70.9 |
Top stores
Top five online stores in South Africa by net sales 2023
The biggest player in the South African eCommerce market is takealot.com. The store had a revenue of US$349.8 million in 2023. 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 2023
| Filtered revenue / share eCommerce net sales refer to the year 2023 | Global revenue eCommerce net sales refer to the year 2023 | Growth eCommerce net sales growth refers to 2023/2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
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 2023 in terms of offered payment methods is fragmented and dominated by a few providers with VISA (Cards) covering the largest share with 90.7% of all online stores checked. Other offered payment methods in the South African eCommerce market in 2023 are Mastercard (Cards) with 90.7%, Bank transfer/cash in advance (Bank transfer) with 55.0%, and Mobicred (Installment) with 39.3%. With 30.7% 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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