The figure is expected to grow to R46 billion in 2017. Based on a survey conducted on their behalf by Ipsos, local online spending is expected to grow by 29% by the end of 2016. By contrast, e-commerce in European and US markets is growing at between 12 and 15 percent.

According to PayPal’s regional director for Africa and Israel, Efi Dahan, the country was still in the early stages of e-commerce, and there was 'a lot of room to grow'. He said merchants and consumers in South Africa were coming to understand the potential of e-commerce and there were two main drivers -- South Africans could not, for example, find all the goods and services offered in the US -- so there was more cross-border shopping.