South Africans are expected to spend about R159-billion online in 2026, as e-commerce grows by an estimated 22.5% and records its first full year at 10% of national retail turnover.
These are the central findings of Online Retail in South Africa 2026, a study produced by World Wide Worx in partnership with Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Africa. The study draws on retailer financial disclosures through FY2026, Statistics South Africa retail data through mid-2026 and consumer research from Ask Africa’s Target Group Index, based on 23,910 interviews conducted from January to December 2025.
The report confirms the previous edition’s forecast that online sales would reach around R130-billion in 2025. It estimates that the market will add about R29-billion in turnover during 2026. That increase is almost as large as South Africa’s entire online retail market in 2020, when sales totalled about R30.2-billion.
Online retail continues to grow several times faster than the wider retail sector. The 2026 estimate weights each major platform’s disclosed growth according to its contribution to online turnover. The result is an estimated 22.5% increase in online sales in 2026, compared with growth of about 4% across the retail sector as a whole in the first five months of the year.
Gabriel Swanepoel, Division President for Africa at Mastercard, said secure digital payments would remain central as online retail extends to more consumers and more frequent purchases.
“Reaching 10% of retail turnover confirms that digital commerce has become part of everyday trade in South Africa,” he said. “The next gains will depend on giving consumers payment choices that are secure, simple and accessible, while helping merchants reduce friction at checkout. As the market expands, every successful transaction strengthens trust and makes it easier for more people and businesses to participate in the digital economy.”
The growth is being accompanied by stronger commercial results. Takealot Group recorded its first full-year trading profit 15 years after launch, reporting adjusted earnings before interest and tax of R171-million. Pick n Pay’s online operation was profitable for a second consecutive year, while its online turnover increased by 32.7%.
Checkers Sixty60 sales grew 34.5% to R25.5-billion in the year to June 2026, following growth of 47.7% in the previous year. TFG Africa’s online sales grew 49.2% and reached 8.2% of divisional sales, while Woolies Dash grew 19.6% across FY2026.
These figures show that the sector’s progress is no longer confined to rapid turnover growth. Retailers are using marketplaces, fulfilment services, subscriptions, loyalty programmes and advertising to improve the economics of digital operations.
Rahul Jain, CEO and co-founder of Peach Payments, said the commercial focus had moved towards conversion and repeat use.
“South African merchants have already done much of the hard work required to build reliable online operations,” he said. “Their focus now is on converting more visits into completed purchases and earning repeat business. Fast authentication, dependable payment processing and a checkout that works well on a smartphone can have a direct effect on revenue. The best payment experience is one that removes effort while preserving security.”
The report says payments infrastructure performed reliably during the busiest trading period of 2025. PayInc, South Africa’s national payments utility, processed an average of 934 transactions a minute on Black Friday and 700 a minute on Cyber Monday. Card payments remain the base of online commerce, but pay-by-bank services, instant electronic transfers, digital wallets and buy-now-pay-later products now carry meaningful checkout volume.
The study applies three measures to the 10% milestone because the available retail series answer different questions. The constant-price convention used in earlier reports places online retail at about 10.7% in 2025. A monthly estimate indicates that online sales exceeded 10% during the November 2025 trading peak. A strict like-for-like measure, which compares nominal online turnover with Stats SA retail sales at current prices, places the crossing in the first half of 2026 and the full-year average at 10%.
Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx and principal analyst on the research, said the milestone had been reached earlier than the previous report anticipated.
“South African online retail has grown from less than 1% of retail turnover to a tenth of the market in a decade,” he said. “It is adding almost the value of the entire 2020 online market in a single year, and several major operations are now profitable. Retailers are no longer funding digital commerce as a side project. They are building fulfilment, loyalty, marketplaces and advertising into the same operating system as their stores.”
Competition is also broadening. Takealot remains the most-used platform, used by 35.3% of online shoppers, followed by Shein at 21.5% and Checkers Sixty60 at 15%. Amazon was used by 12.7% of online shoppers before the South African launch of Prime in June 2026.
The report identifies subscriptions and delivery economics as major competitive tests for the coming year. Amazon Prime costs R59 a month in South Africa, while Shoprite’s Xtra Savings Plus offers unlimited free deliveries for R99 a month. TakealotMORE accounted for more than 25% of Takealot Group gross merchandise value within two years of launch. These figures are supported by the consumer segment of the study.
Andrea Rademeyer, CEO and founder of Ask Africa, said the consumer findings help explain how online retail can grow rapidly while shopping penetration remains relatively stable.
“Established online shoppers are buying more frequently and across more categories,” she said. “Convenience has become a stronger motivation than saving money or finding lower prices. The growth in turnover therefore reflects a deepening of online shopping behaviour among current users, alongside the opportunity to bring millions more connected South Africans into the market.”
* Download the full Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report here.