South Africans are fast getting over their cyber anxiety, as more and more are choosing to ditch cash and queues for online shopping.
In the past 12 months South Africans spent an estimated R37.1-billion for goods on the internet. And that number was expected to grow to R53-billion by next year.
The figures are from the third annual global report on cross-border trade compiled by digital payment platform PayPal and market research giant Ipsos, released yesterday.
In the report, which investigates the domestic and cross-border shopping habits of more than 28,000 consumers in 32 countries, 58% of adults in SA with access to the internet were said to have shopped online in the last year.
Most were spending their money on downloadable digital entertainment and education items, event tickets, clothing and footwear.
"The South African commerce revolution is well under way," said Efi Dahan, general manager for PayPal Israel and Africa.
A large portion of the spend was leaving the country's shores, with the US, China and the UK cited as the most popular cross-border online shopping destinations.
An estimated R8.8-billion went to these and other countries from the pockets of about 1.4 million South African online shoppers.
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