SponsoredA Mastercard study on consumer spending* has revealed that 68% of SA consumers are shopping more online since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With fewer opportunities to browse in-store or on-street, social media has emerged as the main platform for finding the most attractive products and offers, with 64% and 41% of respondents saying they had discovered new sellers through Facebook and Instagram respectively. As people spend more time at home, the demand for online entertainment has also surged, with 52% of respondents saying they have spent more money on virtual experiences than they did before the pandemic. Most consumers have participated in video calls for work or leisure, three quarters have watched TV or films through an online subscription service, three in five have watched comedy online and 47% have taken part in a virtual cooking class.