It won’t be a slam dunk for 800-pound gorilla Amazon in South Africa – Andy Higgins

Amazon is set to launch its online shopping service in South Africa this year. The tech giant announced in October last year that it would provide independent sellers throughout the country the opportunity to launch, grow, and scale their businesses. In anticipation of Amazon’s arrival, Naspers has boosted investment into Takealot, the home-grown e-commerce leader in South Africa and said they were well-positioned to deal with whatever could be coming from Amazon. In an interview with Biznews, e-commerce entrepreneur Andy Higgins, who started Bidorbuy and is now the Managing Director of the Bob Group, said while many people believe Amazon will have a massive impact on day one, he thinks it would take them longer. The challenges for Amazon, he said, would be the localisation of the software they use globally, infrastructure, and logistics. Higgins said the South African market has different nuances and Amazon will have to find ways to adapt which, “will be a bit of a challenge.” Ultimately, he said the consumer will be the winner if there is price competition. In terms of growth potential for e-commerce, Higgins said South Africa lags the rest of the world and even its emerging market counterparts. Penetration is still under 5% of total retail sales compared to Brazil, India, and Southeast Asian countries where e-commerce penetration is already over 10%. Amazon’s entry into the South African e-commerce market is absolutely not going to be a slam dunk for Amazon; “they have not been successful in every country,” he said.