Ecommerce businesses estimated to be losing out on R 30 billion in revenue

The Ecommerce industry is estimated to be leaving about R 30 billion per year in revenue on the table. This is outlined in the latest 2021 South African Digital Customer Experience Report. The OFM Business Hour sat down with Julia Ahlfeldt, a customer experience professional and a part of the team that researched and authored the report to unpack some of the key findings that the researching team gleaned from their engagements with customers. Ahlfeldt says the ecommerce market in South Africa appears to be maturing on the back of Covid-19 with 82% of respondents shopping online and 73% of them coming from households with an income of R 10 000 or less.

Despite this move in the right direction many are still abandoning ship at the last minute due to the customer experience, leaving R 30 billion on the table. The expert says high shipping costs and cumbersome processes are two of the biggest reasons why customers are abandoning shopping at the last minute.

She believes that by streamlining shipping orders and being upfront about shipping order delays etailers can improve the customer experience online significantly. Furthermore Ahlfeldt says customers have expressed immense concern over the security of their information online and believes that etailers should not only prioritise securing the information of their customers, but also notify them of this.