Although mobile commerce is booming globally, South Africans still prefer using desktops rather than smartphones when online shopping.
This is according to a new online shopping report from global e-commerce platform, Picodi.com, which found that only one out of every three online shopping transactions made in SA in 2018 was on a mobile device.
The data also showed South Africans tend to spend less when using smartphones. When they shopped on their phone, the average order value was R428, which was R294 less than when using desktops (R722) and R416 less than when using tablets (R844). Picodi found iOS users spend more than Android users at R501 and R417 respectively, on average.
The report used the internal data of Picodi.com for 2018, and for currency conversion used the average exchange rate for March 2019.
The report also found South African women far outnumber men in online shopping, with women making 67% of online purchases and men just 33%.
Unsurprisingly, it's the younger generation that prefers online shopping. Around 42% of all online shoppers were aged between 25 and 34. This was followed by people aged 18 to 24, which made up 21% of shoppers; 35- to 44-year-olds made up 19% and the remaining 18% were consumers over the age of 45.
According to the research, the average order value of a South African shopper was the highest in December at R625, followed by November and September at R619 and R489 respectively. The lowest order value was recorded in January (R269), June (R285) and February (R293).
When looking at shopping activity, it turns out November had the highest number of transactions, with almost one-fifth (19.2%) of all the transactions made during the year. The second busiest month when it comes to the number of transactions was July (9.7%), followed by August (9.3%). The lowest number of transactions was noted in January (5.1%).
The report found consumers in SA shop more on Wednesday and Sunday on desktops and more on Monday and Friday on mobile.
The most popular time of the day to shop online using computers is in the morning, from 6am to 12pm, which was when half of all purchases were made. In the case of mobile devices, the peak of sales occurred between 6pm to 12am when desktop sales wind down.
The most popular categories for online shopping among South Africans were clothing, food on delivery, groceries, home and garden, and sport.
Picodi also analysed data from 35 countries and compared the devices people use to shop online and the average order value. South Africa was among the countries where desktop shopping takes preference, with only 32% of online orders in SA made on mobile devices.
Peru topped the rankings with 76% of online purchases made with the use of smartphones. Close behind was Nigeria where 62% of transactions were made using smartphones and Thailand where it was 56%.
When it comes to the average order value, South Africans spent $30 on average which was far lower than the global average of $79. Emirates spent the most money per order, at $200, while the lowest average order value was from customers in Hong Kong, who spent just $21 on average.
* Infographics courtesy of Picodi.com.
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