E-commerce has emerged as a key focus at the Proudly South African Buy Local Summit and Expo in Sandton. Proudly SA CEO Eustace Mashimbye reveals that e-commerce sales in South Africa hit R71 billion by 2023, with projections indicating this figure will surpass R100 billion by 2026.
He was speaking at the close of the two-day event that connects exhibitors with major industry players for potential inclusion in their supply chains.
The growing trend underscores the increasing shift towards online shopping and highlights the potential for local businesses to thrive in the digital economy.
In a bid to drive the sales of locally made goods, Proudly South Africa is set to launch an e-commerce platform dedicated to locally made products from next month.
Mashimbye says they have collaborated with existing platforms. “We have spoken to third parties that have online stores with listed proudly SA members’ products on their stores at no cost to them. You know some of the stores when you list there, they want you to pay to list to. Pay to keep your product on there. As part of the partnership we have with these guys, our members are able to list their products.”
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Some local entrepreneurs say they have already turned to the e-commerce space following the challenges faced in retail.
Khuliswa Mazizi, founder of Kusta’s, a sauce business says the way retailers stock products can sometimes result in competition with lower-quality products.
“Then when you get when you get there to buy my juice is expensive. So I think that’s the biggest problem to the point that I took a decision that looks at this point in time, the retail doesn’t work for me. The products they work, they go faster when I’m selling them myself using my online platform than when I’m taking them to the to the to the retail. But the retail they have the sales, they have the volumes.”
Fellow entrepreneur, Chantelle De Bruyn of Buttercup, a healthy alternative to coffee says she stumbled along the way getting into e-commerce.
“So we’ve been getting it all wrong for the past, especially in the e-commerce sector. We’ve met people who have approached us to say we can do this for you but could not really deliver on what we want because people would want to buy online. But the platforms that we were introduced to were really not suitable for us at the time and we had to struggle for months prior to one supplier to actually getting the right supplier.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Small Business Development says the partnership with Proudly South Africa will serve as a key driver of economic growth.
Buy Local Summit | Day Two
