As a firm that focuses on market research, polls, and surveys among others, we hope to bring you enlightenment through today’s article on the consumers’ readiness for e-commerce especially for grocery shopping. This is the second article on the research we conducted in partnership with Meeticks Africa through their rapid data collection solution via Whatsapp (Meeticks Surveys) focusing on the behaviour of shoppers or consumers.

According to data publicly available, about 30% of internet users were already using e-commerce in 2014 in Botswana. Mobile phone subscriptions are also reported to have increased by more than 1 million in the past five years. The use of mobile money accounts are also reported to have notably increased by 16.5% from 2021 to 2022.

E-commerce gained momentum during the past lockdowns because of restricted movement. From our survey findings, 64% of the participants are now open to e-commerce, while 25.1% are not ready and 10.9% are still undecided.  For those who answered with a ‘definite yes’ to e-commerce: 90.6% are aged between 18-39 years, 75% are female, 39.8% earn salaries, 35.9% run their own businesses, and 76.6% buy their groceries in bulk once in a month.

However, consumers submitted that they would only consider e-commerce if the prices were lower and affordable and if they could shop via WhatsApp on their mobile phones without the need to use the computer on internet or Wi-Fi. Reasons given by the group that is not yet ready for e-commerce were that they felt it was too complicated, too risky or they did not have a laptop or computer

To some people reading this article, these may look like mere figures and statements, but to a business owner, these statistics inform management of the specific characteristics of their target market to guide the development of additional services and products. If you need to get deeper insights into your own market niche, through the Meeticks Surveys platform:

Please contact us on +267 7187 0023 or research@easternman.co.bw for consulting or to join our free research WhatsApp group

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