As more data is released by retailers and financial services companies around the country, we’re starting to see that the trend towards greater e-commerce use has persisted beyond the hard lockdown in SA.
Recent data from FNB, one of the country’s largest banks, shows that transaction activity on point-of-sale machines has recovered close to pre-lockdown levels.
According to the bank, purchases recorded on its Speedpoint devices show that transactions recorded in August, when the country moved to level 2 of lockdown, recovered to 93.2% compared to February.
The recovery in transactions on the whole is in line with expectations as economic activity has ramped up, especially with the move to level 3 and level 2 of the lockdown. The question was whether people driven to shop online during the hard lockdown would continue to do so when restrictions on visiting retail centres were lifted.
Even before Covid-19, SA has traditionally had a strong “mall culture”. Large centres, such as Mall of Africa, averaged 1.5-million visitors a month, with maximum foot traffic close to 1.9-million in December or festive season months previously, according to Attacq, the mall’s operators.
Thokozani Dlamini, FNB merchant services CEO, said average e-commerce spend recorded on FNB merchant devices grew 30% year on year during the first half of 2020 compared to 2019. During the same period, the active e-commerce merchant base also recorded an increase.
“We are now seeing a combination of online sales and bricks-and-mortar store activity, which bodes well for businesses as they try to recover lost income,” Dlamini said.
While other businesses and sectors, such as tourism, are fighting to claw their way back to pre-coronavirus trading levels, before even thinking about growth, e-commerce — at least when looking through FNB’s lens — seems to be one of the few parts of the economy that is recording an actual expansion.
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