Tag: e-commerce

While traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers attempt to navigate their way out of the Coronavirus pandemic, local online retailers are seeing a massive spike in sales, as the shift from real to virtual goes into overdrive. What’s next for the retail industry, and as lockdowns are eased around the world, to what extent will these spikes remain?

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but in an ever-growing digital world, this small but mighty weapon may well be on its way to extinction. Signing on the dotted line, may become a dying art. From stone tablets to ancient Egyptian manuscripts, signatures in various forms have been used to authenticate transactions since time immemorial.

This year has seen many more businesses moving online, adopting ecommerce models in an effort to continue to reach their customers as COVID-19 wreaked havoc. While this has opened up markets to hundreds of thousands of new customers, it also has the potential to create vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.

We are on the cusp of the festive shopping season, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday kicking off the spending spree in the run up to Christmas and Boxing Day. However, this year’s shopping season will be very different compared to previous years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The upshot is that many South Africans are emerging from the pandemic with considerably less spending power.

Ever had that experience where you were chatting or texting someone about a topic and the next thing you know, you log onto your social media pages and find either an advertisement or suggestion on the very same topic? Well, this mystery is more common than you think.

On 18 May 2020, the Competition Commission published its final Buyer Power Guidelines (the guidelines). Earlier this year, the new buyer power provisions of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 (the Act) came into effect. These provisions prohibit dominant buyers in designated sectors from imposing unfair prices or trading conditions on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and firms owned and controlled by historically disadvantaged persons (HDP).

Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising was one of the many casualties of the hard lockdown, with marketers understandably finding it hard to justify their spend in a time where everyone was required to stay at home. With the levelled lockdown commencing on 1 May, movement has gradually started to return to the outdoor arena, providing OOH media owners and advertisers with new hope.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has published regulations relating to the selling and distribution of products via e-commerce platforms.

The future of technology in Africa is going to be spectacular, if the recent AfricaCom 2019 is anything to go by! The thousands of delegates, exhibitors and speakers who came together to share ideas and thoughts on the future of technology in Africa brought new perspective - our continent is past being seen as having 'potential' and has entered an era of 'collaboration' where we can fully explore the opportunity in Africa.

Online shopping has become increasingly popular amongst South African consumers. Convenience, competitive pricing, and a wide choice of products make online purchasing a no-brainer for tech-savvy shoppers, but retailers need to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to standing out against the competition.