It is now a given that the pandemic turned online grocery shopping from a rare preference to a common necessity. The TGI Survey conducted by Ask Afrika among 16,000 South Africans revealed last year that the proportion shopping online had shot up from 4% to 27% as a result of lockdowns and socially distanced shopping.

Much of that shift was driven by groceries, and in particular the advent of one-hour delivery by Shoprite Checkers' Sixty60. Pick n Pay ASAP and Woolworths Dash followed in Checkers’ wake, driving ever-growing numbers of South Africans into the world of e-commerce...