RETHINKING THE

ECOMMERCE
OPPORTUNITY IN
SOUTH AFRICA
How retailers can pivot
to digital customers
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John Watling Jonathan McCabe

Managing Director, Accenture Retail Products Africa Management Consulting

Lead
John Watling currently Leads Accenture’s
Retail business in Africa. He is responsible for Jonathan McCabe is a Managing Director
supporting clients as they take advantage of leading Management Consulting in Africa
the digital innovations disrupting industries across Accenture’s consumer facing industries
today, with digital commerce being one of including Retail, Consumer Goods, Life
the major drivers. John has played various Sciences, Travel and Industrial. Jonathan joined
strategic, operational and commercial the Johannesburg office of Accenture from the
leadership roles across a number of U.S. in 2010 and focuses on driving Innovations
industries and businesses within Accenture. that scale and designing next generation Route
to Market capabilities

Yusof Seedat
Thought Leadership Director,
Accenture Research

Yusof leads Accenture’s strategic research

geography business globally. His core
focus is to help and guide Accenture and
its clients to lead in the NEW by supporting
strategic decision making with data
and insights, as well as guiding market
positioning through thought leadership.
He has co-authored several thought
leadership papers on business and social
related topics which can be accessed on
the Africa Observatory.
 INTRODUCTION—
TRAPPED IN THE MALL
With little impact from online last few years have been very bad
competition, traditional retailers for retail. Globally traditional brick-
in South Africa are putting most of and-mortar retailers, who long
their efforts into their core brick- claimed immunity to disruption
and-mortar stores. On the surface it for relatively tiny web-based
seems like a low-risk choice. Brick- competitors, are being materially
and-mortar stores generate almost impacted.
all retail revenues and profits, while
Bankruptcy filings have set records;
online operations are expensive to
including familiar company names
maintain and often unprofitable.
such as Sears, Radio Shack, the
They also find it difficult to measure
Limited, Sports Authority, Toys
the return on investment of their
“R” Us and Payless ShoeSource. In
online offerings.
2017 alone, other venerable brands
What’s more, South Africans are announced plans to close more
still eagerly trekking to department than 3,500 store locations.
stores and specialty shops at
It wasn’t as if consumers had lost
the local mall1. According to a
interest in shopping. They had
Visa survey, 63 percent of South
simply gone elsewhere.
Africans said they prefer to make
purchases at a mall, and Urban
Studies found that 76 percent of
South Africans visit a mall at least
once a week2.

South African retailers are therefore

taking a narrow approach to
building eCommerce businesses.
They are not investing in creating
the full range of convenient and
engaging online experiences that
consumers are coming to expect
and that pure-play eCommerce
companies provide.

This will leave South African

retailers feeling the pressures that
retailers have felt in other parts of
the world. Consider the U.S—the

3 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 The obvious disruptor here is customer services had been
Amazon. The web commerce pioneer impacted by rounds of cost cutting
has quintupled its sales since 2010. that left customers feeling frustrated
By 2019, half of all U.S. households and ignored.
were subscribed to Amazon Prime.
But then, where were consumers
Overall, digital commerce represents
going to shop instead? Traditional
nearly $400 billion in annual sales for
retailers acted like their customers
the $3.5 trillion industry.
were trapped in the mall.
Yet, the fall of brick-and-mortar retail
That is, until eCommerce companies
was hardly inevitable. In reality, the
cracked open the window and heard
industry had over two decades to
a thundering chorus of consumer
respond. In 1996, internet shopping
dissatisfaction. Lower prices? Fine.
was at best a gimmick, but it grew
Custom solutions? You got it. Self-
steadily, increasing about 15–25
service instead of no service? Done.
percent each year. By 2016, web-
based commerce accounted for What distinguished the digital-first
nearly $100 billion in holiday sales. retailers wasn’t their innovative
But even then, it was only 10 percent use of digital technology. It was a
of the total. relentless focus on making shopping
more personalised, convenient, fun,
Incumbent retailers first denied
cost-effective, and even socially
the risk online sites posed to their
responsible.
business, then tried to mimic them
by adding “me too” websites. As traditional retailers cut staff,
Fearing cannibalisation of their dimmed the lights, and left aging
physical stores and offense to inventory on the shelves, web-
suppliers, however, the eCommerce based sellers continued investing
offerings of established brands were everything they had and more to
always compromised, for example, transform online shopping into a
by offering limited or clearance richer experience than getting in the
merchandise, or requiring in-store car, driving to the mall, looking for
pickup and return. Prices rarely parking, and hoping the product you
reflected the lower cost of online wanted was in stock and someone
service. was available to take your money and
complete the sales transaction3.
What many traditional stores missed
was that falling prices for technology
and the spread of the internet were
creating new opportunities, first and RETAILERS AROUND
foremost to serve customers more THE WORLD HAVE BEEN
efficiently and more personally. PUT OUT OF BUSINESS
Retailers, however, had not given BY DIGITAL-FIRST
the right priority to technological RETAILERS. ARE SOUTH
innovation. Even the most basic AFRICAN RETAILERS
FALLING INTO THE SAME
TRAP?

4 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 AN ONLINE SHOPPING
REVOLUTION IS ALIVE
IN SOUTH AFRICA. ARE
RETAILERS READY?

In South Africa, consumers have passed the

tipping point with eCommerce. They’re ready
for more—under the right circumstances. The
opportunity to tap into this demand is there for the
taking. For retailers, it’s time to pivot to the future.
For South African consumers, the shift from bricks-and-mortar shopping to
online retail has been slow. Although half the population has access to the
internet and mobile services, online sales account for a mere 1.4 percent4 of
retail purchases.

But that is changing.

Online sales will grow almost three times

as fast as in-store sales in the period 2018–
2023

5 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Driven by the rapid increase in their stores rather than their online
smartphone use, we project that presence. While they do have online
South African consumers will sharply channels, most are underdeveloped,
increase their online shopping in the and consumers have been reluctant to
near future. According to research engage. Trust in their security is fairly
by Euromonitor International, online low, and the shopping experience itself
sales in South Africa will grow almost underwhelming.
three times as fast as in-store sales in
To turn this around, retailers need
the period 2018–2023. The compound
to rethink their digital strategy and
annual growth rate for online sales in
technology to create a safe, secure,
that period will top 19 percent, while it
and engaging experience. In a rapidly
will be less than 6 percent in physical
evolving economy, these are the keys
stores (Figure 1).
to staying relevant with demanding
For a number of reasons, South Africa’s consumers.
retailers have focused investments on

Figure 1: Retail growth: online beats in-store

Over a five-year period, Euromonitor projects that South African retail should
grow at steady rates both in stores and online; but online growth will be much
more rapid.

South Africa market

size growth CAGR
2013-2018

19%

5.8%

In-store retailing Internet retailing

Source: Accenture research analysis based on Euromintor International data

6 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 LEARN FROM THE
LEADERS IN GLOBAL
ECOMMERCE
Retailers in South Africa don’t have to reinvent the
eCommerce wheel. Plenty of “digital first” companies
have already shown the way forward with their
customer focus.
Amazon, eBay, Apple, Zappos, Dell and Walmart and U.S. home-improvement
others engaged deeply with customers, chain Lowe’s have both invested
found out what they wanted and gave it substantially to enhance the online
to them. They added secure payments, customer experience. Their websites
recommendation engines, video and have the same easy, intuitive interfaces
many other enhancements to their and copious product information found
websites. Other customer-friendly on leading eCommerce sites. Customers
approaches include free shipping, easy can order online and get merchandise
returns and same-day delivery. Behind delivered, or they can buy it online and
the scenes, they built state-of-the-art pick up in-store. They can also order
warehouses and distribution networks. in-store for home delivery. In the UK,
On the next frontier, we’ll find smart- Tesco customers can order groceries by
home hubs and drone delivery. dictating their lists via the Google Home
app5.
But it’s not just these digital companies
with lessons to share. South Africa’s Retailers that have not built a robust
retailers can also learn a lot from the online/offline offering, particularly
experience of businesses that were once traditional department store chains,
entirely bricks-and-mortar but have have struggled to unlock the value
successfully adapted to a hybrid model. trapped within their core business
(Figure 2).
Retail chains that have invested in online
experiences as part of a comprehensive
transformation to deliver better
customer experiences have fared well.

7 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Figure 2: A tale of two investment strategies

The failure to adopt new technologies and new ways

of doing business “traps” value
Retail giants that have been slower to pivot to eCommerce have underperformed
compared to their peers

Walmart Lowe's JCPenney Sears

Market Capitalisation based to 100

350

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150

100

50

0
Sep-10

Sep-12

Sep-17
Sep-09

Jan-11

Sep-11

Jan-16

Sep-16

Jan-19
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Sep-14

Jan-18

Sep-18
Jan-13

Sep-13

Jan-15

Sep-15
May-15
Jan-10
May-10

Jan-12
May-12

Jan-17
May-17
May-11

May-16

May-19
May-14

May-18
May-13

Pivoting to eCommerce?

Walmart Lowe's
Since acquiring Jet.com in 2016, Walmart has been Lowe's has taken the fight to its digital-native
ramping up its eCommerce presence as it attempts to competitors. Its "Innovation Lab" forms the disruptive
compete with Amazon. In May 2018, it bought a 77% hub of the home improvements store. The Lab
stake in Indian eCommerce unicorn, Flipkart, for $16 has introduced projects such as the "LoweBot"
billion. autonomous retail service robot.

JCPenney Sears
JCPenney has struggled to weather the eCommerce Sears warned investors in 2017 that after a lengthy
challenge, cutting 5,000 jobs in 2017, and closing 138 losing streak, its future is a concern. The upstart
stores. In 2018 it planned to cut further, underlying the company of the 19th century has attempted to partner
challenge for brick-and-mortar retailers. with Amazon in order to reinvigorate its business.

8 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 In South Africa, retailers should pursue from other economies, such as India and
both in-store and online retail strategies. China (Figure 3), that once momentum
Being behind the rest of the world in builds, eCommerce sales rise at an
eCommerce provides South African accelerating rate. Retailers that were not
retailers the opportunity to learn from ready when the exponential growth hit
global organisations and leapfrog to were generally unable to catch up in the
best in class. Integration between digital world.
online and offline will make it easier to
Further, our analysis of broadband data
support the data exchanges and system
cost relative to internet penetration
interconnections that will be needed for
and ecommerce sales (see About the
the “omnichannel” experience—one that
Research), shows that countries with
covers shopping in stores, online (the
lower broadband data costs have
retailer’s own site plus many other sites),
higher penetration rates (+76% of
via mobile devices or through social
the population) and enjoy stronger
media interactions—and will avoid costly
eCommerce sales, compared to those
rework later.
like South Africa where broadband costs
When eCommerce was taking root in are almost double compared to our
advanced economies 10 to 15 years sampled countries average at $3.5 per
ago many retailers made the mistake of megabyte. However, data costs have
treating online operations as separate been dropping in South Africa—albeit not
businesses. As a result, they tended to fast enough—under increasing consumer
underinvest in online and sometimes pressures and government interventions
treated eCommerce as a loss leaders such as the inquiry into mobile
rather than embracing the omni-channel broadband services and fast-tracking
future. As online retail has grown, many licensing of broadband spectrum. All
companies in advanced economies these are likely to fast track the reduction
have had to go back and fix ineffective, of data costs which will ultimately drive
half-hearted online initiatives. We know the trend we see globally6.

Once eCommerce growth hits the inflection point, it may

be too late for brick-and-mortar chains to catch up.
Even though eCommerce represents a scant 1% percent of retail sales in South Africa, now is the time to invest.
We know from other economies that once momentum builds, eCommerce sales rise at an accelerating rate.

20000

18000

16000

14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

China India Brazil Mexico Argentina Indonesia

Figure 3: eCommerce Growth by Selected Countries (Based to 100)

Are SA retailers going to be

ready to catch the wave of
eCommerce when it comes?
9 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 SOUTH AFRICA’S
DIGITAL WORLD IS
MORE ADVANCED
THAN ONE THINKS
More than two thirds of internet users in
South Africa access the internet every day

South Africans are increasingly ending June 2018. What’s the secret?
becoming more “digitally savvy”— Woolworths realised that mobile is
making digital technology part of the consumers’ channel of choice
every dimension of their lives. More and is bound to lead the way towards
than half of South Africa’s 58 million an omnichannel retail experience9.
people have access to the internet
Our research shows that from 2015
with more than two thirds of them
to 2018, the number of digitally
going online every day. This puts
savvy South Africans, those that
penetration far above the level of
make digital technology part of all
India, and almost as high as China7.
dimensions in their life, grew to 12
South Africa is a “mobile first”
percent (up from 10 percent) of the
economy: most consumers go online
population. Fifty-eight percent of
for the first time via their mobile
South Africans—up from 43 percent
phones. Almost all (+90 percent8)
in 2015—are now “experimental”
active internet users—those who go
users; they strive to incorporate
online every day—access the web
digital more broadly into their
and social media from their mobile
lives and are open to more digital
phones. Buoyed by easy access to
experiences.
the internet and mobile services,
South African customers are Together, the share of digitally savvy
increasingly using smartphones and and digitally experimental South
online platforms to socialise, shop Africans grew from 53 percent of the
and manage their money. population in 2015 to 70 percent in
2018. (See Figure 4 and “About the
When Woolworths launched in-app
research”).
shopping through its integrated
lifestyle app, the company achieved
a 34 percent growth in online sales
(almost double the projected market
growth of 19 percent) and a 77
percent increase in fashion, beauty
and home online sales in the year
of active internet users access
the web and social media from
their mobile phones
10 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 South Africans have embraced the use of digital
technologies at a rapid rate over the past five years.

Different customer, different intensity, different speed

10% 12%

43%
SLOW SWITCH FAST NO SPEED 58%
TRAFFIC LANE NOW! LANE LIMIT

Traditional Transitional Experimental Digitally Savvy 28%

They rely mostly on They selectively They strive to They make digital
traditional channels engage in digital for leverage digital technology part of
25%
and interactions. utility value, more broadly, all dimensions in 19%
Even then, they discovering how the experiencing new their life. Mobile
leave digital traces. experience digital / physical access is key. 5%
improves. combinations. 2015 2018

Figure 4: A more digital South Africa

This trend towards increasing digitally savy South Africans is projected to

continue in the coming years.

By 2022, South Africa will have 25.5 million smartphone users10, 19 million
Facebook users11, and recent figures released by leading retail banks show
digital banking is growing fast. FNB reported annual growth in mobile banking
app volumes of 65 percent, while Capitec has seen a 62 percent increase in
the use of its banking app in six months12.

South Africa’s digital world is expanding rapidly and those South African
retailers that are ready will profit from the coming wave of eCommerce
expansion.

11 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 WHAT
CONSUMERS
WANT
Digitally savvy consumers expect the companies they
deal with to be relevant. Retailers have to compete
on more than the traditional criteria of convenience,
quality and price. They must understand their
customers’ preferences, anticipate their needs and
provide an excellent experience every time.
Many of these increasingly plugged- visit online stores and manufacturer
in South Africans will turn online for websites. They turn to social media
retail purchases. Great news—but sites to see what others are saying
it comes with a caveat for retailers. about brands and products. Based on
Online shoppers are what we call “non- our survey of South African consumers,
stop shoppers”; they are never done 56 percent of internet users say that
evaluating their options—even after a when they buy online, their choices are
purchase. And companies have to adjust influenced by social media. This non-
to that reality (Figure 5). stop assessment is very different from
traditional customer behaviour, when
Even when they are not considering an
loyalty programmes encouraged repeat
immediate purchase, today’s non-stop
business and discouraged re-evaluation.
digital shoppers constantly

of South African internet

users say that when
they do buy online, their
choices are influenced
by social media

12 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 With online shopping, evaluation (and re-evaluation)
is at the core rather than loyalty.

Customer journeys are increasingly centred on

evaluation, not purchase.

OLD NEW
FROM THE LOYALTY LOOP... ... TO NON-STOP EVALUATION

Discover Purchase Discover Purchase

Expectation Reality
Evaluate Evaluate
$ Promise Delivery

Consider Use Consider Use

In the past, customers have been Today’s technology-enabled

swayed from re-evaluating their customers can continuously re-evaluate
options by loyalty programmes that their options, choosing a provider that is
incentivise them to purchase most relevant to them in the moment

IN A DIGITAL COMMERCE ERA COMPANIES MUST CONSTANTLY

WIN AT THE POINT OF RE-EVALUATION

Figure 5. Shop till you drop

The continuous evaluation cycle has South African retailers are still
ratcheted up consumer expectations largely focusing on their brick-and-
for online stores and vendor sites. mortar stores: it’s their comfort
Digitally savvy consumers are highly zone and it’s easier to measure the
focused on the quality of their online return on investment. They still view
experiences. They expect 24/7 online sales as isolated transactions
availability, instant responses and and do not realise how the two
ease of use. worlds—physical and digital—could
influence and bolster one another.
Companies that don’t deliver such
Many organisations are reluctant
experiences risk losing customers.
to make significant investments
Accenture’s 2017 research on the
in eCommerce because they fear
hyper-relevance era13 found that
it may influence store purchases.
South African companies lost ZAR
However, consumers expect secure,
663 billion (U.S. $51 billion) in that
consistent and engaging online
year alone in potential revenue
experiences—and providing an
owing to customers switching to
excellent digital experience could
competitors, and two thirds of
lead to more in-store sales.
switching was caused by a lack of
relevance.

13 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Nearly two thirds of online buyers say that
lack of consistency and limited choice in
payment methods is a source of frustration.

The biggest challenges holding Customers also seek improvements

back online shopping today include in the post-purchase phase. In 2018,
limited trust in online payment nearly two thirds of South African
systems, lack of consistency, shoppers said they expect to be
limited choices and poor delivery offered online options for post-
experiences which include cost of purchase service and support, no
delivery. A recent Accenture survey matter where they purchase their
found that sixty-nine percent of items. When a customer has a
consumers say that the inability problem that can be solved online,
to access information or buy a it’s a relief not to have to make the
product using multiple channels is trip to the store.
frustrating, while two thirds of online
buyers say that lack of consistency
and limited choice in payment
methods is a source of frustration.
Customers want to see the same
pictures and data on all digital
channels; inconsistencies will cause
consumers to hesitate.

Delivery services are popular

among South African consumers
with delivery experiences and cost
ranking as important factors when
considering to shop online. An Urban
Studies survey found that 87% of
consumers received their products
via courier in 2018 and customers
called out delivery issues such as
non-delivery, incorrect items and
delivery costs as a disadvantage
of shopping online. Almost a third
of customers recommend free
shipping and faster delivery options
as methods to improve their online
shopping experience14.

14 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 SOUTH AFRICAN RETAIL
MUST PIVOT TO THIS
DIGITAL FUTURE
In todays tough economic climate retail executives in South Africa will be concerned
about the costs of scaling their digital business. However, the experiences of retailers
around the world demonstrates that treating eCommerce as an after thought can
change the fate of the strongest brands.

Below are three steps we recommend to retailers wishing to scale their digital process
and online business:

Integrate eCommerce
1 with legacy business

Pursuing new business opportunities UK chains Tesco15 and Kingfisher16 have

does not have to come at the expense of built digital hubs to develop, incubate,
the legacy business and top performing and implement innovative digital
companies focus on tapping into this solutions.
potential to cross-sell between the
Expanding into new eCommerce
eCommerce and legacy businesses.
businesses also depends on a strong
These leaders also consider the
appetite for collaboration, particularly
potential to leverage new eCommerce
when seeking synergies to build on the
business in order to reshape the culture
strengths of a legacy business. Most
of the legacy business. They see omni-
notably, leaders know how to leverage
channel as the future and- explicitly
the power of external networks, such
look for ways to update their legacy
as collaborative partnerships and joint
businesses and find synergies between
ventures to accelerate development.
the old and the new. With careful
In the U.S., the Kroger’s grocery chain
planning, retailers can reduce the costs
partnered with eCommerce platform
and risks of scaling up new technology-
Ocado17, and in South Africa, NetFlorist
based businesses even as they integrate
partnered with Lindt to offer free
with legacy systems. One way to do
chocolate with its flowers on Valentine’s
this is by introducing the agile ways of
Day18.
new business into the core business
to improve performance and update Retailers should not hesitate to cherry
culture. Top-performing chains have pick the best ideas that they see in
built technology platforms that support online pure plays or that are bubbling up
rapid trials and testing. in the retail technology ecosystem.

15 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Build modern digital
2 infrastructure

Retailers need robust digital Others have created 3D models of their

infrastructure to build efficient in-store stores to help control activities like
as well as online shopping operations. stock depth, budgets, marketing plans
Advanced technology such as data and replenishing stock flow. Anyone in
analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) the team can use these models to test
can speed up supply chains, reduce the store layout long before it is built.
waste, avoid running out of stock and
Building the right data assets will be
help customers find a missing item
essential. South African retailers have
online. The journey from warehouse
an opportunity to use in-store customer
to store can be shortened, while the
data to discover new ways to improve
response to demand shifts can be
the customer experience online and
accelerated. The new infrastructure
drive up sales. Few chains have taken
must also address data security and
advantage of this unique data source,
privacy protections to ensure customers
which can provide insights that are
can trust the online store.
unavailable to online-only retailers.
Retailers can build in-house, acquire
or form partnerships to get the right
technology. UK retailer Marks & Spencer
is investing in retail technology start-
ups19 as part of its effort to grow online
to 33 percent of sales by 2022. In
South Africa, online retailer Takealot
purchased Mr Delivery to gain the
ability to offer customers online delivery
tracking20.

16 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Improve customer
3 trust and experience

The future of brands will be defined Click-and-collect is another opportunity

increasingly by the quality, depth and for traditional retailers to please
relevance of the customer experience. customers considering the challenges
they face around delivery. Ordering
Yuppiechef uses its digital tools to
in-store for home delivery is another
enhance the customer experience with
crowd-pleaser, which plays to the
a touch of familiarity. Every purchase
strengths of large retail chains that can
(gift or not) from Yuppiechef includes a
display a wide array of merchandise.
personalised handwritten card adding a
As part of a five-year effort to deliver
personal touch to the digital experience
excellent customer experience, UK
making it more enjoyable21.
home-improvement chain Kingfisher
Trust is a critical factor for a good is upgrading its website, streamlining
online customer experience. Alibaba checkout, and improving its click-
built trust with Chinese shoppers with and-collect24 programme by letting
the Alipay “e-wallet”—a secure payment customers pick up purchases from a
system that promised shoppers 100 selection of online sellers at Kingfisher
percent reimbursement for fraudulent stores.
purchases. In South Africa, online
SA retailers are learning the value of a
fashion pure-play retailer Superbalist
good delivery service. Makro customers
allows shoppers to make secure
can collect online purchases from its
payments via SnapScan, which allows
“click-and-collect lockers” at selected
them to pay without sharing credit or
service stations and McDonald’s
debit card details22.
restaurants25. Zando customers can
Retailers can raise the quality of in- choose between three-hour, next-
store experiences with a brilliant day and express delivery, and it even
omnichannel strategy—one that offers delivers after hours. The online retailer
an integrated customer experience also accepts payment on delivery—in
through multiple physical and digital line with its customer-first philosophy—
channels. Scan-and-go and smartphone- and strives to continuously improve its
based payment systems, for example, customer experience26.
eliminate the frustrations of checkout
lines. An omnichannel approach
could include innovations such as in-
store GPS navigation, instant in-store
custom offers and other elements
that mimic—or go beyond—the online
experience. Behind the scenes, IoT
inventory management, data analytics
and robotics can help keep store
shelves stocked. Walmart, for example,
is using robots to restock and adjust
merchandise on shelves23.

17 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
 Companies need to find creative ways Yuppiechef is an excellent example of
to address customer delivery costs. how to use multiple channels to engage
Yuppiechef delivers to the customer at customers. For example, shoppers
no extra charge (for orders above R400 can use their smart devices to scan
or for pick up at PostNet stores27)— QR codes on every price tag in store
they consider delivery as a marketing to read reviews of products online.
expense28. Customers can also opt to Yuppiechef also built a mobile point-
order online and collect from its store. of-sales solution that plugs directly
into the online system of its physical
The biggest opportunity for traditional
stores. Now, customers at checkout can
retailers lies in creating smooth online/
choose between taking their purchases
offline shopping experiences. The
home or having it delivered—making
offline and online worlds are blurring,
for a seamless physical and online
with online-native retailers opening
experience29.
brick-and-mortar stores globally. But
traditional retailers can win at this game.
The overall goal should be to make it
easy for customers to shop when, where
and how they want.

TIME TO PIVOT TO
THE FUTURE
As our digital world rapidly expands like never before, South African
retailers are presented with a mammoth opportunity to learn from the
successes and failures of local and global eCommerce pioneers. In the
era of hyper-relevance, can they tap into consumer demands, grab the
opportunity presented to them and pivot to the future?

At Accenture, we believe that by combining the powers of traditional

and digital retail, building modern digital infrastructure, and improving
customer trust and experience, South African retailers will finally be
able to pivot to digital consumers—and pave the way to the next way of
digital commerce.

South African retailers must pivot to the future to thrive, or maybe even
just to survive...

18 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
ABOUT THE
RESEARCH
This report combines multiples streams of proprietary research which
included a survey of 29,530 end-user consumers in 35 different countries
including South Africa. It provides insights into changing consumer behaviour,
attitudes and expectations impacting companies’ customer strategies across
digital and analogue channels. Majority of respondents from South Africa that
took part in the survey indicated they earn above R100 000 per annum.

For the broadband data cost analysis, we took a sample of 25 countries and
tested the causation and correlations between various related indicators to
derive insights.

In addition the research draws on several use cases based on Accenture’s

extensive experience in working with global retailers and supplemented by
case study analysis as well as literature reviews.
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2
https://www.urbanstudies.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Urban-Studies-report-Shopping-Centre-
benchmarks2.pdf
3
Extract from “Pivot to the Future” – book by Omar Abbosh, Paul Nunes and Larry Downes
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/events/pivot-future-book
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Euromonitor Database
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biggest-insights-for-the-future-of-ecommerce

20 Rethinking Relevance How South Africa’s Retailers Can Pivot to Digital Consumers
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