Consumer spending insights from the 2025 festive season are the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.
Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sandy Samaan, head of consulting and analytics at Visa for Southern, East, West and Central Africa.
The Retail Spend Monitor from Visa Consulting & Analytics shows e-commerce continues to expand in South Africa as online retail spending rose 49.9% year on year from 2024, “driven by early-season promotions and convenience”.
Samaan describes the growth of e-commerce as “fantastic”, noting that it has become a standout performer for the holiday season.
She highlights a massive acceleration in growth, stating that e-commerce expansion nearly doubled year on year, with growth jumping from about 27% last year to about 50% in 2025.
Visa’s monitor analyses retail sales activity over a seven-week period beginning on November 1, using a subset of Visa payments network data in South Africa and survey-based estimates for other payment methods.
The company also noted that South Africa benefited from a spike in business travel activity during the B20 and G20 summit week in November.
Samaan outlines spending patterns during the festive period; growth of e-commerce; in-store trends; and an outlook for 2026.
Join the discussion:
Producer: Demi Buzo
Business Day Spotlight is an Arena Podcasts Production.
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