E-commerce in South Africa - Lessons from China

So what are they doing right?

The forecast for e-commerce in China in 2015 is predicted to reach 50%, with online accounting for 10% of total retail spend - massive when compared with the US where e-commerce represents just 6.1% of total retail sales. Online influences purchasing decisions by up to 50% and impacts overall shopping experiences by 100%! A lot can be said about the pervasiveness of e-commerce in China, which can be highlighted by the influence and position of Alibaba.

Additionally, increased digital penetration in China and the development of digital banking is sure to sharpen both the appetite and ability to purchase anything online. Businesses like Taobao (consumer-to-consumer online retail) and Tmall (B2C online retail) have taken point and having a huge impact with their creation of a safe and cheap option for everyone to be buyers and sellers in a digital market place.

China has a low cost and very dynamic supply chain, meaning that products can be delivered swiftly without the consumer having to shell out huge amounts of cash for delivery. This, coupled with a very busy work ethic entrenched in Chinese culture, means little or no time for shopping. All of this points to a very healthy place for China's online shopping habits, and will no doubt grow in the coming years.

What do we need to do to improve e-commerce in SA?

• Simple really, and I'll leave the "how to" open for discussion and interpretation.
  
• Improve product delivery turnaround times and cost.
  
• Enable all e-commerce businesses, including informal sectors such as street vendors, to be part of a national, e-commerce marketplace.
  
• Enable easy-to-use transactional platforms (simple mobile payments for example) that could facilitate transactions in the informal sectors. I see this as a huge barrier-to-entry.
  
• Improve the ability for small e-commerce shops to set up multi-currency payment gateways that are simple to use and implement.
  
• E-commerce Education. Make online shopping affordable and attractive to the masses, removing especially fears of doing online transactions.

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