RETAIL TRENDS
the giants of shopping centres? The king of Facebook
is Canal Walk, with 72 134 “likes” at the time of
writing, followed by Montecasino, Melrose Arch,
Galleria Mall in Amanzimtoti and V&A Waterfront.
Sandton City is winning the Twitter race with over
12 000 followers, followed by V&A Waterfront,
Melrose Arch, Gateway Theatre of Shopping and
Montecasino. While in countries overseas the trend
veers more towards to online shopping than shops
online, here in South Africa more and more people
are looking towards their cellphones, iPads and tablets
to find the shops and brands they want. Social media is
becoming not just a marketing tool but the marketing
tool. Where will this retail trend head to next? “WiFi presents a huge opportunity,” says Stops. “Because
of the massive numbers of South Africans who rely
on their cellphones for Internet access, we should
increasingly see shopping centres providing customers
with free, fast in-house Wi-Fi networks.” Much like
the US and the UK which both offer free Wi-Fi in the
majority of the shops and restaurants.
There is plenty of evidence that online retailing is
gaining traction in South Africa. A recent survey of
600 South African mobile phone users found that
two-thirds of South Africans reported shopping
online at least some of the time. The MasterCard
Worldwide Online Shopping Survey reported that
the proportion of South African Internet users
shopping online grew to 58% in 2012, up from
53% in 2010 and 44% in 2009. A similar survey of
Internet users by the Digital Media and Marketing
Association (DMMA), found that people who had
spent at least 5 years using the Internet were 50%
more likely to do so, which is important because
it means that the number of online shoppers will
grow as more South African Internet users spend
more time online. And one of the fastest modes of
accessing the Internet has been cellphones. With
faster, smarter and more technologically equipped
phones coming out every five minutes, the Internet
has become a staple in almost every South African’s
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Commercial Handbook 2013
day, whether they use it to just browse or to search for
an item or to update all their social platforms.
So how can you ensure that your technological
strategy grows your sales?
1. Make your mobile plan work
Make sure your mobile retail site is user-friendly,
eye-catching and engages your audience. The right
mobile retail site will ensure that you increase your
potential pool of Internet shoppers.
2. Make sure your delivery schedule works for
your customers
One of the biggest problems with Internet shopping
is the delivery time; your package either takes too
long or simply doesn’t arrive. The easy fix solution
to this is to ensure you are close to your customer
base. Ensure your warehouse is situated close to your
biggest pool of customers, and then use a reliable and
fast delivery service.
3. Share your stories
There is no better way to get free advertising than
word of mouth. Getting people to share their
positive stories about your site and merchandise will
increase your brand recognition. By encouraging
people to share their stories, more people will want
to use your site-free and easy marketing.
4. Navigating is key!
The real secret to success for any site is the actual site
itself. If your site is easy to use and navigate then half
the battle is won. People don’t want to have to learn
how to use a site, or struggle with navigating a site, if
this happens then they will simply click onto another
site. Make sure your site is simple, easy-to-use and
eye-catching. There are thousands of examples of
good and bad websites online, make sure people are
talking about your site for the right reasons.
RESOURCES
South African Council of Shopping Centres
www.reimag.co.za