The online retail market in South Africa is expected to reach a volume of R159 billion in 2026, with online shopping accounting for about 10% of the total retail turnover in the first full calendar year.
These forecasts are based on the report 'Online Retail in South Africa 2026', prepared by World Wide Worx in partnership with Mastercard, Peach Payments, and Ask Afrika. According to the report, online retail is expected to grow by 22.5% this year, adding about R29 billion to the market. This projected growth in 2026 is almost equal to the entire online retail market volume in 2020, when sales were around R30.2 billion.
Retailers note significant growth in the online segment
The study also showed that major retail chains are demonstrating confident growth in their internet businesses. Checkers Sixty60 sales increased by 34.5%, reaching R25.5 billion, while Pick n Pay's online turnover grew by 32.7%, and TFG Africa's online sales increased by 49.2%.
Shabir Ahmed, Senior Vice President of the Customer Solutions Center for Africa at Mastercard, emphasized that secure and convenient payment methods will become critically important as the number of online shoppers grows. He noted: 'Reaching 10% of retail turnover confirms that digital commerce has become part of everyday trade in South Africa.'
Ahmed continued that further growth will depend on providing consumers with safe, reliable, and affordable payment options, as well as assisting sellers in reducing checkout barriers. He added that every successful payment helps strengthen trust and facilitates greater participation from individuals and businesses in the digital economy.
Digital payments remain a key element of online shopping
The report also revealed that the payment infrastructure handled large volumes of transactions during the busiest shopping periods in 2025. During Black Friday, PayInc processed an average of 934 transactions per minute, and during Cyber Monday, 700 transactions per minute.
Although card payments remain the primary method of online payment, bank payment services, instant electronic transfers, digital wallets, and buy-now-pay-later products are also actively used during checkout. Takealot remains the most popular platform for online purchases, used by 35.3% of online shoppers. It is followed by Shein with a 21.5% share and Checkers Sixty60 with 15%. Amazon was used by 12.7% of online shoppers before the launch of Prime in South Africa in June 2026.
Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director of World Wide Worx, stated that reaching the 10% mark happened sooner than expected. He commented: 'Online retail in South Africa has grown from less than 1% of retail turnover to one-tenth of the market in a decade.'