Shops preferred to online

South Africans still prefer physical shops as opposed to buying goods online, according to a PwC survey released on Tuesday.

In 2014, the value of online retail sales in South Africa was R5.3 billion, retail and consumer leader John Wilkinson told journalists in Johannesburg.

"That is tiny. That is not even one percent of total retail sales in this country," Wilkinson said.

However, the value of online retail sales was projected to rise to R9.5bn in 2018.

According to the survey, 14 percent of the South African respondents said they shopped online weekly, or more regularly.

A total of 53 percent said they intentionally browsed products at a shop, then purchased them online.

A total of 73 percent said they browsed products online, then bought them in-store.

The online survey involved more than 19,000 respondents, with around 1000 from South Africa.

-SAPA