South Africans are expected to spend R159 billion through online channels in 2026, with e-commerce spending set to represent 10% of national retail turnover.
South Africans are expected to spend approximately R159 billion through online channels in 2026, with e-commerce spending set to represent 10% of South Africa’s national retail turnover.
A new study by South African research firm World Wide Worx, in partnership with Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Africa, found that e-commerce is set to grow by 22.5% this year.
World Wide Worx said its latest report confirmed the previous edition’s forecast that online sales would reach around R130-billion in 2025.
“The increase is almost as large as South Africa’s entire online retail market in 2020, when sales totalled about R30.2-billion,” World Wide Worx said.
“Online retail continues to grow several times faster than the wider retail sector.”
Gabriel Swanepoel, division president for Africa at Mastercard, said that e-commerce reaching 10% of retail turnover confirmed that digital commerce has become part of everyday trade in South Africa.
However, he suggested that the industry may experience a plateau in spending unless changes are embraced wholesale.
“The next gains will depend on giving consumers payment choices that are secure, simple and accessible, while helping merchants reduce friction at checkout,” Swanepoel said.
“As the market expands, every successful transaction strengthens trust and makes it easier for more people and businesses to participate in the digital economy.”
The growth of online spending and e-commerce in South Africa is evidenced further by stronger commercial results from the companies leading the charge.
Takealot Group, South Africa’s largest online retailer, reported its first full-year trading profit 15 years after its launch, with adjusted earnings before tax of R171 million.
Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay both posted profitable online operations and sales growth, with the Shoprite-owned platform in particular boasting R25.5 billion in sales for the year to June 2026.
“These figures show that the sector’s progress is no longer confined to rapid turnover growth,” said World Wide Worx.
“Retailers are using marketplaces, fulfilment services, subscriptions, loyalty programmes and advertising to improve the economics of digital operations.”
Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx
Bolstering the growth in online spending is South Africa’s digital payment infrastructure, which the study found to be performing reliably.
South Africa’s national payment utility, the Reserve Bank’s PayInc, processed an average of 934 transactions per minute on Black Friday 2025, and 700 per minute on Cyber Monday.
Card payments remain the basis of online commerce, but growth in pay-by-bank services, instant EFTs, digital wallets, and buy-now-pay-later products is now having a meaningful impact.
Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx and principal analyst of the research, said South Africa’s current online spending trajectory has been reached earlier than previously anticipated.
“South African online retail has grown from less than 1% of retail turnover to a tenth of the market in a decade,” he said.
“It is adding almost the value of the entire 2020 online market in a single year, and several major operations are now profitable.”
He said digital commerce was no longer a side project for major retailers in South Africa. Companies were building fulfilment, loyalty, marketplaces, and advertising into the same operating system as their stores.
“South African merchants have already done much of the hard work required to build reliable online operations,” Rahul Jain, CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments.
“Their focus now is on converting more visits into completed purchases and earning repeat business.”
Jain said that the industry must prioritise fast authentication, dependable processing and frictionless checkouts that work well on smartphones to continue capturing growth.
“The best payment experience is one that removes effort while preserving security,” he said.
