Intellectual property and e-commerce: Growth of e-commerce

摘要

Although South Africa lags behind the US and Europe in terms of e-commerce, the local business-to-consumer market offers a number of services similar to those found in its overseas counterparts. E-commerce has experienced an explosion in South Africa since the onset of the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic in early 2020. Research and Markets, an Ireland-based market research firm, estimates that online retail sales jumped by 40 in South Africa during the lockdowns introduced in 2020. According to Nielsen, a US research firm, over a quarter of South African consumers were shopping more online in mid-2020 than before the pandemic. Online sales increased by 66 from 2019 to 2020 to over R30bn (US$1.9bn) according to data firom the US International Trade Administration. A study by local market research firm FNB Merchant Services showed that total online sales jumped 55 in 2020 and 42 in 2021 year on year. FNB estimated that the value of South Africa's e-commerce market would reach R400bn by 2025.