Jason Jeffries
25 January 2011
It's not just Brits, Americans and Australians who are satisfied with their online shopping experience - new research shows that shoppers in another English-speaking nation, South Africa, are making the switch to ecommerce, too.
More than half of South Africans who have access to the internet - 51 percent - use it to shop online, the Mail & Guardian reports. Additionally, 75 percent of South Africans who have used ecommerce have done so in the last three months, and 73 percent plan to use the internet to shop again in the next six months.
When they're ready to head to the online check-out, most South Africans - 48 percent - choose to pay with credit.
The findings come from a report by South African research company World Wide Worx.
"South Africans who shop online also feel that making purchases on the internet is more convenient, user-friendly and easier than walking into a store or ordering from a catalogue or via a call centre," the research firm said.
The survey's results are good news even for ecommerce outlets in faraway countries, especially the U.K., as many South Africans may order goods from overseas and choose English-language websites over others. South Africa has 11 official languages, including Afrikaans and a variety of native dialects such as Sesotho, Tshivenda and Setswana, but English is generally understood across the nation.
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