Online spending in South Africa is expected to reach R53-billion by the end of 2018. This is up from R37.1-billion in 2017, according to research conducted by PayPal, bucking the trend of the current economic climate.
There’s no doubt that the local ecommerce scene will continue to grow, but South African consumers need to know they can sufficiently trust and engage with retailers, for the industry to reach its full potential.
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It’s just one of the reasons why the PriceCheck Tech & E-Commerce Awards was created. When you reward those doing great work within an industry, you give them motivation to keep delivering a great consumer experience, but you also encourage the other players to step up and do better.
Judges for the awards this year include Lynette Hundermark, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Useful & Beautiful; Geoff Cohen, Co-Founder of &Innovation; Boitumelo Menyatswe, Ecosystem manager for Silicon Cape; Elsamari Botha, Senior Lecturer Digital Enterprise Management and Digital Futures at the University of Stellenbosch; Michele Iozzo, Managing Director Middle East & Africa for Criteo; Matthew Buckland, South African Internet entrepreneur and businessman who is the founder of Creative Spark; Bryan Nelson, Sector Lead: Finance, Retail, Travel at Google Africa; and Lindsey Schutters, Editor of Popular Mechanics South Africa.
Internet entrepreneur Matthew Buckland believes that these awards give the country a snapshot of who the ecommerce and tech leaders are, where they will get the best experience, who are the players that are innovating.
“The PriceCheck Tech & E-Commerce Awards are the premier awards when it comes to technology and ecommerce businesses in South Africa. All the top tech and commerce businesses enter into this award, and I’m happy to be associated with such a prestigious and well-run event,” says Buckland.
“South Africans are embracing ecommerce and most businesses are racing to innovate and delight their customers by blending the latest internet technologies into their products and services. The hard work, quality and achievements of these deserving companies should be celebrated which is why I’m thrilled to be a part of these awards,” says Bryan Nelson of Google SA.
Returning judge Michele Iozzo of Criteo mentions that along with the innovative character of the submissions, he is looking for something new or usual as well.
“Submissions need to be smart, focused and tailored to improve a certain business aspect in an efficient way,” says Iozzo.
“Before these awards, there hasn’t been an equivalent award show in South Africa. That’s not good for an industry, because awards always shine light on the industry as a whole. Also, awards highlight innovation and the latest industry trends,” he continues.
“The awards raise awareness of smaller companies that no one has heard of. We have many niche ecommerce companies doing great things, and these should be highlighted too,” says PriceCheck CEO Kevin Tucker.
Tucker continues, “We need the public to get involved through voting. It’s important to us that the shortlist includes companies that the public truly believes are deserving of recognition. It’s why this round of voting is so important — the results are a true reflection of who is doing the best work on the local tech and ecommerce scene”.
And what will make one nominee stand out above another? For Silicon Cape’s Boitumelo Menyatswe, it comes down to three critical factors: “I’ll be looking for something innovative or disruptive, something that’s impactful and is a solution that speaks to a uniquely South African or African challenge.”
To vote for your favourite, head over to the PriceCheck Tech & E-commerce Awards website and get involved.
