2020 has been a shot of adrenaline for the ecommerce sector, with the COVID-19 lockdown doubling the average 1% to 2% hold the sector had in the retail space to around a 4% share in a matter of weeks. Over the course of the year, ecommerce businesses, established and new, have successfully leveraged digital platforms and online tools, to meet changing customer behaviours and develop forward-thinking retail and service models.
In our first ever PayFast Ecommerce Performance (PEP) Index, we unpack how the pandemic has accelerated local ecommerce adoption by as much as three to five years.
The report consists of industry, payment and buyer data sourced from PayFast platforms over the past year, as well a survey conducted among our merchants in September 2020 that provides insight into how lockdown affected their businesses.
The report also includes some insightful interviews from a few of our partners including ecommerce platform WooCommerce, shipping solution UAfrica, payment method Mobicred, online store Snatcher and the Insaka eCommerce Academy. These interviews provide a well-rounded analysis of the local ecommerce industry that complements our findings.
Download the PEP Index below to find out about some of our key findings, including the number of new merchant registrations we had over the past year, the fastest growing industry in 2020, the highest PayFast online transaction this year so far, and more.
The 2020 edition of the PEP Index is a first of its kind, and we look forward to publishing this report annually with new ecommerce related findings and insights in the years to come.
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