Joburg leads way in online shopping

JOHANNESBURG is not only South Africa's economic hub, but its residents are also more likely to buy online than those of any other city in the country.

A survey conducted by the online retail store khalahari.com this month has revealed that Johannesburg people are more inclined to shop online, followed by Durban, with Cape Town trailing behind.

Alice in the Eastern Cape and Mafikeng in the North West have the fastest growing community of online shoppers in South Africa.

Kirby Gordon, the online store's marketing manager, said Durban residents showed a low propensity to shop online, but when they did, they were the fastest.

He said while Capetonians had embraced buying items on mobile devices, the rest of the Western Cape had been slow on the uptake.

"Johannesburg has the highest percentage of people shopping on the site on a monthly basis relative to the population of the city. Residents of the City of Gold are 1.3 times more likely than Capetonians to shop online," Gordon said.

"Before you start mocking Durban customers, our stats tell us when they do go online they are the fastest shoppers. This applies to KwaZulu-Natal too.

"On average they shop 15 seconds faster than Johannesburg residents. Maybe they are in a rush to get to the beach.

"Capetonians not only drive slowly, they shop slowly too. You add five seconds onto their shopping experience."

The survey also showed:

• KwaZulu-Natal has the highest tablet traffic; and
• Residents in Boksburg, Gauteng, take three times longer than the average Johannesburg shopper to shop online. - Philani Nombembe