According to Internet World Stats South Africa had 2.4-million internet users in 2000 and this has increased to 24.9-million in 2014, the internet penetration of the entire population is 51.5%. Internet usage in South Africa accounts for 8.4% of the total internet usage on the African continent.

The recently conducted Ask Afrika Icon Brands survey identifies brands that are used most loyally across the South Africa demographic irrespective of race, culture, income, education, or lifestyle. Vodacom won the Internet service providers category and Samsung Tablets achieved Platinum Status and won their category. This year, 164 product category winners were celebrated and 37 brands were classified as Ask Afrika Platinum Brands. These product category leaders often dominate their space and are mostly iconic amongst the consumers that have access to them. Ask Afrika Platinum Brands are the brands of tomorrow and have a total Icon score above the required threshold, but are not used across the entire population.

Sarina de Beer, MD of Ask Afrika, says; “As our lifestyles are changing, our needs are changing. We now eat on the go, and we have historically filled our engagement needs or sense of family by eating together in South Africa. This is happening less and has created an emotional void. A way of compensating and filling this void is through technology and social media.”

People in South Africa are spending more and more time online and this leads to more online consumption and the rise of the online consumer. Younger generations are also more at ease with online retail. Africa has the world’s youngest population – more than half its inhabitants are under 20 years old, compared with only 28% in China. In the urban centres alone, the 16-34 age group already accounts for 53% of income.

Global statistics from Target Group Index (TGI) show that Generation Z (aged 17 and younger), who have grown up being "connected" with a global consciousness being innate, have an attention span of 8 seconds and 73% check social media within an hour of waking up.

TGI shows that Millennials, or Generation Y, are somewhat different, they are immersed in technology, but they still have a more localised outlook than Generation Z and were old enough to experience the mood and shift caused by the global recession.

Both Generation Y and Z are very comfortable online and do not have the same restrictions to online consumption as older generations do. According to an article on htxt.africa in January; “the number of active internet users in South Africa grew steadily in the past year, according to a report released by social media marketing and communications agency, We Are Social, there are now 24% more internet users, bringing the total number up to 24.9 million. The number of active social media accounts grew by 20% to 11.8 million users. A survey conducted by the Global Web Index indicates that social media topped the list for the activity that most users spend their time on their mobiles and that of all the social platforms available in South Africa, users spent most of their time on WhatsApp, followed by Facebook.”

The article shared some interesting statistics from We are Social about online shopping, according to the Global Web Index in December 2014 23% of the South African population bought something online via a PC and 11 % bought something online via a mobile phone. Many people also went online to research a product before buying it, 31% of the SA population used a PC for this purpose and 17% used a mobile phone. 

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