Going digital…faster

‘Staying home’ in 2020 has seen online shopping increase further, entrenching behaviours that may not have shifted before the pandemic.

Growth of online retail sales from 2012 – 2019

Online trade as a % of total retail sales

South African online shopping growth may be constrained by digital access and delivery logistics, but has nevertheless shown significant growth over the last seven years, and 2020 has likely accelerated this trend.
Transactions are going paperless, too. From healthcare to banking, to investing in Unit Trusts, the shift from ‘paper to pixel’ is clearly a timesaver, with multiple other benefits.
Changes to ways of work are clearly shifting business operating models. The rapid and necessary move to ‘work from home’, and conduct online meetings and virtual events, may be a dramatic shift, but it’s likely to linger a little longer, even beyond the virus outbreak, due to cost-saving and efficiencies.

This article appears in the Q4 November 2020 edition of our StandPoint publication. Click here to download a copy of the full publication.