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Mobile Shopping In South Africa Sees Major Increase

Mobile Shopping In South Africa Sees Major Increase

In 2017, it is estimated, there will be over 16 million active smartphone users in South Africa. This number is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years to reach more than 21 million active users. The rapid rise in mobile phone usage in South Africa can primarily be attributed to the popularity of social media, which in turn has also sparked an increase in mobile phone usage to buy and sell online.

The upturn in active mobile phone users in South Africa has also affected internet usage and consumer habits drastically. Now, more people are using their mobile phones to access the internet than those using traditional access points, and more and more South Africans are enjoying the convenience of shopping online and transacting on their mobile phones, using both web and mobile apps.

From IT News Africa.

Business owners and digital marketers have come to understand the influence and importance of mobile phones in the South African marketplace – that mobile is the future of online trading – and have had to adapt their digital and marketing strategies significantly.

Now, more than ever, they are faced with questions like “Does our audience use mobile to access the internet and to transact?” “What percentage of our audience uses mobile?” and “Is our content optimized for mobile and is it user friendly to sell and buy?”

According to the Effective Measure South Africa Mobile Report 2017, in 2016 nearly 70 percent of South Africans browsed the internet through their mobile phones.

Surveying nearly 5000 South African mobile phone users, Effective Measure has found that, currently, 42 percent of South Africans use their mobile phones between 30 minutes and two hours every day, and 18% use their mobile phones for more than 5 hours per day. 78 percent of South Africans have accessed the internet through their mobile phone just the day before.

Read more at IT News Africa.