South Africa’s internet penetration has reached 79.1% among adults, but online shopping remains significantly lower, with only 34.2% of adults making purchases online, according to the Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report.
The report, produced by World Wide Worx in partnership with Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika, found that online-shopping penetration fell from 36.6% in 2024 to 34.2% in 2025. However, online retail turnover rose to about R130 billion, indicating that existing online shoppers are spending more even as overall participation remains concentrated among higher-income and urban consumers.
Adults aged 25 to 34 recorded the highest online-shopping penetration at 39.5%. More than 60% of adults in households earning at least R40,000 per month shop online, while penetration reached 75.4% among consumers in the highest socio-economic segment. Gauteng recorded the highest provincial penetration at 46.9%.
Gabriel Swanepoel, Division President for Africa at Mastercard, said confidence rather than internet access has become a major factor limiting wider participation.
The participation gap is more pronounced among lower-income consumers. Internet access stands at 70.4% among LSM 3 to 6 adults, compared with online-shopping penetration of 23.9%. Among LSM 7 to 8 consumers, the corresponding figures are 84.2% and 36%.
Women have a higher internet-access rate than men at 80.5% compared with 77.6%, but their online-shopping penetration is lower at 31.7%, compared with 36.9% for men.
The report identifies delivery costs, minimum-order requirements and unreliable last-mile services outside major urban centres as some of the barriers preventing wider adoption. Payment-security concerns, limited knowledge of online shopping and fears that purchased goods may not arrive also affect consumer participation.
Payment options are also evolving as retailers seek to make digital purchases more accessible. The 2025 retailer survey found that 40.8% of participating retailers offered Instant EFT or PayShap, while digital-wallet usage grew by more than 35% year on year. Buy-now-pay-later services recorded their strongest performance for purchases ranging from about R800 to R8,000.
Rahul Jain, CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments, said the design of the online checkout experience can influence whether consumers complete transactions.
Smartphones account for 57.9% of online-shopping activity, more than twice the share recorded by laptops at 26%. Web browsers remain more widely used than mobile apps for purchases across 42 of the 48 categories measured, highlighting the importance of mobile websites that are fast and data-efficient.
Clothing remains the leading online retail category, purchased by 36% of online shoppers, followed by groceries at 21.2%. Nearly three in 10 online shoppers spent at least R2,001 over a six-month period.
Convenience was cited more often than price as a reason for shopping online. About 22.8% of consumers said convenience carried greater weight, compared with 16.4% who associated online shopping with saving money and 15.7% who cited lower prices.
Security remains another concern. Only 20.7% of online shoppers strongly agreed that entering personal details online is safe, while 17.6% strongly agreed that online purchases are secure. Concern over financial-information theft was the most persistent barrier identified, cited by 13.7% of consumers.
Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx and principal analyst on the study, said retailers would need to focus on converting consumers who are already connected but have yet to become online shoppers.
Retail store networks could also help address delivery costs and reliability, according to the report. More than 55% of Mr Price online orders are collected in stores, while other retailers are expanding collection services and using branches as local fulfilment points.
Shoprite has also expanded its Sixty60 service into selected Shoprite stores, extending on-demand delivery beyond its original premium grocery customer base.
South Africa’s online retail market is projected to grow by about 22.5% to R159 billion in 2026. The report indicates that expanding participation beyond the current urban and higher-income customer base will be important to sustaining this growth as the existing market matures
