Based on early figures, Business Insider has reported an even lower than expected volume of sales this year for Black Friday in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, and amidst the economic impact of 248 days of lock-down in South Africa. Online Sales Increase Overall, it looks like online sales did experience an increase, with [...]
In a surprising announcement, South African financial bodies the Reserve Bank, and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, issued a warning this week that consumers should beware of "Instant EFT" payment options on Ecommerce sites, calling them fundamentally unsafe and potentially leaving users open to fraud, and without recourse. Offered by many major payment gateway providers, [...]
Traditionally, South Africa has lagged behind in the ecommerce trend, with brick and mortar outlets, many of them in malls, tending to perform significantly better than ecommerce options for the same retailers. World-wide, retail floorspace has been steadily declining for the last 20 years, with for example the UK losing 20% of its retail space [...]
While many, perhaps even most, businesses in South Africa have found themselves struggling under the national lock-down, (one of the harshest in the world), eCommerce in SA has grown by leaps and bounds. Uptake of eCommerce has traditionally lagged behind here for a large number of reasons, including lack of internet penetration, credit issues, and [...]
In a first for South Africa, online payment gateway providers Payfast have introduced a new "Split Payments" option, that will allow merchants with platform-based businesses, such as online marketplaces, the ability to automatically split any payment into specified percentages and pay the relevant percentage to the specified parties. According to Payfast's Managing Director Jonathan Smit, [...]
Well, it's nearly time for Black Friday again, and no doubt everybody is making sure that any specials or promotions that they have planned for the 29th will be ready well head of time. In the meanwhile, here are some interesting stats about Black Friday in South Africa: Record Sales Despite being an American tradition, [...]
If you have an ecommerce site, chances are you regularly provide special offers, discounts or promotions for your clients. Just having the special is not enough though. It's important for you to make it easy for users to qualify for these discounts, or to be aware of whatever special offers you have available. Below, you'll [...]
In a recent study by user experience researchers and experts the Nielsen Norman Group, it was found that providing users with the ability to save shopping cart items for possible later purchase was a critical factor in providing an good user experience for ecommerce sites. From research performed across 49 ecommerce sites, the group found [...]
In the latest case of retail brick and mortar stores struggling to compete in an increasingly e-commerce focused environment, US toy giant "Toys 'R' Us" has filed for bankruptcy in the middle of the run-up to the lucrative holiday season. This is one of the largest speciality retailers ever to file for bankruptcy, and although [...]
The relationship between social media and sales has always been a difficult one. Not only can socially driven ecommerce be tricky to measure, but social media users don't usually want people invading their social spaces in an attempt to sell them things. However, according to the experts, there are things you can keep in mind [...]
