This report uncovers shopper sentiment over a six month period ending April 2021 and provides a deeper understanding of consumers’ retail experiences as well as highlighting the strategic opportunities for retailers. It is broken up into 3 sections detailing sentiments and insights around key periods, being festive season, new year/ back to school and Easter.

Gaining Insights into Consumer Online Experience

In a tumultuous year for South African retailers, consumers took to online and omni-channel shopping during lockdown. Many of the previous assumed barriers consumers had, shifted and most categories experienced onlinegrowth and even after lockdown levels eased, consumers continued to shoponline.  The survey allowed us to quantify certain influencing factors, but we needed to add qualitative insights into the consumers experiences and the key topics that drove satisfaction and sentiment.

Key Findings from the report:

• Increased expectations around delivery demands and after-sales services negatively impacted customer experiences, especially over the festive season
• The handling and resolution of complaints on social media were critical
• Operations around return, refunds, and exchanges hampered experiences with deliveries
• Consumers were mistrustful of retailers they suspected of hiking prices over high demand sale cycles