When Covid struck, some predicted the death of real-world retail. I saw this fear first hand when one of South Africa’s largest shopping centres asked us to investigate, through on- and offline research, how and to whom they were losing foot count and to identify opportunities to bring it back.
At the time it felt as if shopping centres were going to give way completely and that we would all be languishing on our couches, scrolling endlessly and shopping without ever leaving our homes again.
Nearly five years on, the evidence tells a different story. Online shopping has grown, yes. Checkers Sixty60 now posts revenues comparable to Spar’s market capitalisation and not far off from Pick n Pay’s. But there’s a reality check: despite two decades of availability, online still accounts for just 10% of South Africa’s R1.53-trillion retail activity. The other 90% still happens in-store.
Supporting this is the quarterly research undertaken by the South African Property Owners Association, which, for the second quarter of 2025, predicts record-breaking foot count levels this year, especially in small malls rather than large ones or “super-mall” spaces.
In this context, and as we head full throttle towards “season”, the question that retail brands need to ask themselves is not if online and e-commerce will replace bricks and mortar, but rather what unique role real-world retail plays in an increasingly digitised world.
The recently released seventh annual South African Customer Experience Report, which I co-authored with Rogerwilco CEO Charlie Stewart and customer experience specialist Julia Ahlfeldt, offers some answers. Importantly, the report’s research clearly shows that even among frequent online shoppers, real-world stores remain essential, even if just to touch and feel a product before buying it (55%) or to go in-store to make an immediate purchase (66%) versus waiting for it to be delivered.
This year’s research also revealed that 62% of consumers seek human assistance when problems can’t be solved digitally, 54% want to feel treated as a valued customer, 53% conduct their own quality checks, 48% go in-store to avoid shipping fees and 19% want to be delighted and entertained.
Somewhat paradoxically, among the so-called super-duper shoppers — a class of affluent, digitally fluent shoppers who are setting the bar for omnichannel (on- and offline) expectations — those who had shopped online in the previous three days are more likely than occasional online shoppers to use physical stores for all the reasons mentioned above — except for digital troubleshooting, because they’re tech-savvy and can resolve most issues online. Yet they still consider brick-and-mortar stores as indispensable in their path to purchase.
Brands must bring back humanity
Another standout insight from this year’s research is that despite consumers being digitally fluent, they often still want to be treated like a human, by a human. In fact, 21% of respondents said that their most delightful recent experience happened at a physical location while a further 14% said it was through a human agent in a call centre.
When it comes to problem solving, respondents called out human-led channels, with e-mails (21%), call centres (15%) and branches or stores (14%) being their top three choices to help them when they have a problem.
A standout insight from this year’s research is that despite consumers being digitally fluent, they often still want to be treated like a human, by a human
What, then, does this mean for retail businesses and businesses in general after years of having to digitise and automate? It means bringing humanity back into their customer experiences.
It’s easier said than done, of course. Not only do retailers need to upskill their employees, as in-depth product knowledge will be expected of in-store staff, in addition, retailers will need to educate existing teams or hire others for different skills entirely, such as attitude and character versus technical or manual proficiencies.
This also means job seekers will have to up their game and cultivate a skill set that cannot be performed by an AI (yet). In South Africa, given our broken education system and millions of school-leavers already being unable to find work, this will be a challenge and those in the education space must consider the current curriculums and update them speedily or else leave school-leavers with a bounty of unnecessary skills.
While we certainly still need to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to design and manage new technology, businesses will also need employees who have a high level of emotional intelligence. In a very techie world, empathy, listening and caring will become true differentiators.
Doing it ALL, better
This may feel like a digital-vs-human tension, but in fact it’s the best of both worlds. Online and on-demand shopping is highly likely to continue to grow as data costs decline and technology and device features improve, meaning more South Africans will be able to access the internet and conduct product research, browse various brands and buy digitally. This also highlights the need for brands to offer smoother and seamless online journeys as consumers’ expectations of digital shopping increases and as more come online. But the quandary for businesses is that they also expect efficient and empathetic human excellence. Businesses must master both.
Given that 93% of consumers in our study said it was extremely or very important that businesses demonstrate empathy by understanding their needs and emotions, human-led solutions that offer delight and joy are essential. Continuing to rely on technology alone can, as our 2024 report revealed, have a downside: plenty of digital experiences across competitors and categories have become homogenised, “same-y and faceless.
Consider Checkers Sixty60, for example. Its meteoric rise shows how on-demand service is reshaping habits. Yet its success has brought about some challenges too. Social media conversations and dinner party talks are awash with complaints about Sixty60 staff clogging up aisles while fulfilling orders, frustrating in-store customers. Solutions like “dark stores” (retail hubs that exist purely to hold stock for online orders) may help, but they highlight the challenges faced by retailers, as ideally the costs of on-demand shopping ought to be attributed to stores to maximise profitability. Whichever solution is found, what is very clear is that digital and physical must work hand in hand and not against each other.
The next retail chapter
As Black November and the festive season approach, the winners won’t just be those with the slickest apps but the retailers who invest in both seamless digital journeys and better human interactions.
The less glamorous end of the equation is made up by the human interactions, as those aren’t a quick solve. This involves staff training, especially in respect of emplyees’ roles in delivering experiences. It requires hiring for empathy and rewarding it, alongside more obvious factors like product knowledge. These human interactions have more chance of truly shaping customer experience.
We’ve been through major retail shifts before, and this one may feel gargantuan. But don’t write off the humans just yet. In the race between man and machine, people remain firmly involved, and in the case of retail, they might just be the trump card.
And yes, I know that right now the business world is captivated by AI, algorithms and automation. But the unfashionable truth is, at least for now, that humans are still in the running. Retailers who ignore that do so at their peril.
Amanda Reekie is founding director of ovatoyou and co-author of the South African Customer Experience Report, a benchmark study on local customer experience trends.
The big take-out: In the race between man and machine, people remain firmly involved and in the case of retail, they might just be the trump card.
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