What SA's online shoppers are buying abroad

Clothing‚ footwear and accessories are the items South Africans mostly buy online from abroad‚ according to online payments company PayPal.

About 62% of South African online shoppers purchased something from an overseas retailer in the past 12 months‚ compared to 43% the previous year.

Clothing‚ footwear and accessories came in as the most common cross-border purchase (68%)‚ with jewellery and watches (62%) second most popular and consumer electronics - computers‚ tablets‚ mobiles and peripherals - the third purchase of choice (54%).

In their annual cross-border eCommerce report‚ which examined the online and cross-border shopping behaviour of 34,052 consumers‚ PayPal and market research company IPSOS said online shopping was expected to increase over the next 24 months‚ with a forecasted total spend of R61.9-billion in 2020.

The reason: 75% of adults interviewed highlighted the convenience of shopping online.

“Advances in technology‚ such as mobile technology and access to data‚ have made it easier for South Africans to shop online‚” said Efi Dahan‚ general manager for PayPal Russia‚ Middle East and Africa.

“South African online shoppers have realised that buying from overseas is not the hassle it once was‚ and that they can purchase must have items‚ often at a better price‚” added Dahan.

According to the report‚ South Africans were likely to spend more than R45-billion online this year‚ with over 60% making a purchase from an overseas retailer.

South African online shoppers purchasing from overseas chose the US as their shopping destination of choice (34%) due to better prices‚ availability and variety of styles‚ followed by China (28%) and the UK (16%).