en.Wedoany.com Reported - The DHL E-commerce Trends Report 2026 shows that more than half (56%) of online shoppers in South Africa would likely let AI shop or make purchasing decisions for them within the next five years, the highest proportion among all global regions, nearly double the global average of 29% and far exceeding Europe's 18%. Based on survey data from 29,000 consumers and 5,800 businesses across 29 countries, the report was released by DHL in June.
The proportion of South African consumers using AI chat tools for online shopping stands at 41%, ranking sixth globally, behind India (59%), the UAE (51%), China (47%), Nigeria (46%), and Saudi Arabia (42%). Pablo Ciano, CEO of DHL eCommerce, stated in a press release that AI is redefining the ability to understand and respond to customer needs at hyperspeed, allowing consumers to find the best deals in milliseconds and retailers to instantly grasp demand shifts.
However, trust issues persist. Visa is laying the groundwork for AI payments in South Africa, inviting local banks to join the "Agentic Ready" program, which is dedicated to fully autonomous AI-driven transactions, though no bank has yet gone live. Visa's own "Stay Secure 2026" study found that only 23% of South African consumers trust AI agents to complete purchases. The allocation of payment authority responsibility remains unclear: if an AI agent authorizes a fraudulent transaction, the consumer remains the original initiator, and liability will be determined on a case-by-case basis under existing rules.
The report also highlights the dominance of Naspers' Takealot platform in South Africa's domestic online retail. The platform has an 88% usage rate among South African consumers and an 87% usage rate among online businesses, recently achieving its first annual profit and piloting instant delivery in parts of Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria. It is leveraging its local scale to fend off competition from Amazon and Temu, both of which have opened distribution warehouses in the country.
South African consumers are also the world's most enthusiastic Black Friday shoppers, with 68% having shopped during Black Friday/Cyber Monday in the past year, the highest among the 29 surveyed markets and far above the global average of 41%. Social commerce is another highlight: 85% of surveyed South African consumers have purchased goods on Facebook, well above the global average of 63%. However, South Africa remains a home delivery market, with 89% of consumers primarily receiving online purchases at home and 61% of returns collected via doorstep pickup, while outdoor drop-offs are becoming the norm elsewhere.
South African e-commerce businesses are also looking overseas, with 83% of companies not yet engaged in international sales planning to expand within the next five years, targeting markets including the US, China, France, and India. The report ranks the South Africa-US corridor as one of the world's busiest B2B trade routes. Herman Venter, Managing Director of DHL Express South Africa, stated that South Africa is one of the most developed e-commerce markets in the region, and for businesses, trust, reliable delivery, convenient returns, and a strong customer experience are core to competing online, especially for SMEs, as digital commerce creates opportunities to reach new customers and markets.
Research firm World Wide Worx predicts that by January 2026, online sales in South Africa will exceed 10% of total retail sales for the first time.
