Share

The tablet revolution

Cape Town - South Africa's online shoppers have taken to tablets in a big way, with an annual survey showing that over 40% of the country's connected shoppers now own tablet devices, and nearly 66% of those who do not indicated an intention to buy one.

The annual survey by online retailer kalahari.com shows that about 67% of tablet owners have already used their tablets to shop online.

The company believes the popularity of tablets has the potential to catalyse the local t-commerce (e-commerce by means of digital television) industry to growth levels that could mirror the bullish growth seen in Western countries.

According to global research and advisory firm Forrester, the $231bn in sales generated through e-commerce for US retailers in 2012 is expected to rise by 13% to $262bn this year.

It anticipates that this will overtake sales growth of conventional stores over the next five years, reaching $370bn by 2017. For Western Europe, Forrester predicts an even faster e-commerce growth rate from €112bn in 2012 to €191bn by 2017.

This represents a compound annual growth rate of 11%, versus 9% in the US.

When asked which tablet device they owned, the majority of respondents (50%) said Apple’s iPad, while 33.4% said Samsung’s Galaxy tablet.

“Samsung seems to be gaining a sizeable portion of the tablet market share. Last year’s mobile shopping survey revealed that Apple had a more than 40 percentage point lead on Samsung, but this year that gap has closed to a mere 25%,” said kalahari.com CEO Caren Genthner-Kappesz.

Boy toys and ever-popular apps

In 2012 kalahari.com saw a surge in the number of women purchasing tablet devices. In 2010, 36% of tablet purchases on kalahari.com were sold to women, rising quite dramatically in 2011 to 46%. But this year the trend has been reversed, with men accounting for about 60% of tablet sales again.

An overwhelming 73% of tablet users and 81% of smartphone users have used their tablets to purchase applications (apps).

The kalahari.com survey indicated that more people like to use their smartphones to browse and compare goods (81%), or read product reviews (77%) rather than actually ordering items (59%).

Genthner-Kappesz said she believes locals trends will likely mirror those in the US, where mobile commerce sales are predicted to go up to $39bn by the end of 2013, 56.5% from 2012, as a direct result of both smartphones and tablets becoming commonplace devices for shopping and buying online.

Smartphones are still in the driving seat of SA's m-commerce (commerce conducted by means of mobile devices). “The survey revealed that compared to last year, smartphone ownership has increased by 7%, meaning that 86% of kalahari.com shoppers own smartphones.

"Smartphones are still key players in fuelling e-commerce growth. A huge proportion of South Africa’s connected use the devices to access the internet and for online shopping,” said Genthner-Kappesz.

The survey showed a 26% boost in the number of shoppers who have made purchases using their phones.

The future looks good for m-commerce in SA, according to Genthner-Kappesz, who said "a massive 91% of people feel that it is as safe, if not safer, to use your mobile phone than it is to actually swipe your card in a mall".

- Fin24

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.93
+0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.90
+0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.40
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders