WATCH: How trends in e-commerce are developing in 2022

New data from FNB Merchant Services shows that the SA online e-commerce market has grown rapidly and is currently estimated at just under R200bn per year. Companies such as Takealot, Woolworths and Checkers are all adapting to new consumer habits.

According to FNB, an increase in the e-commerce estimated value indicates how Covid-19 exponentially accelerated the use of e-commerce. Before the pandemic, e-commerce accounted for 8% of total card payments spent in the retail space, with 35% of the sector being made up by spending on travel and accommodation.

At the end of 2021, e-commerce accounted for 14% of total card payments sales, with travel and accommodation only taking up 11%.

Setting up a website is easy — you can do it over a weekend. The hard work starts when you need to integrate it with inventory management software and optimising the site for google to find you. You need a specialist to help you to avoid the pitfalls of search engine optimisation (SEO), which prevent you from being discovered on the net.

And then there is the never-ending spend on social media to drive traffic through your site. You need to cover the cost of photography and editing of products, offer “free delivery” and payment platform charges. All in you’re looking at 20%.

To talk about the trends that will drive ecommerce in 2022 and how brands are responding, Michael Avery is joined by Darren Hampton, GM of Digital and e-Commerce at Nandos; Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx; and Colleen Harrison, head of marketing at PayFast.