South Africa Social Commerce Market

South Africa Social Commerce Market Overview:

The South Africa social commerce market size reached USD 8.63 Billion in 2024. The market is projected to reach USD 74.38 Billion by 2033, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 24.04% during 2025-2033. The market is experiencing rapid growth since smartphones and social media platforms are widely used. Smooth integration of e-commerce features facilitates higher consumer engagement in social media shopping. Influencer marketing plus user-generated content matter greatly because they mold buying behavior, increase confidence and genuineness. The market expands since consumers increasingly shop interactively with personalized ways. This expansion is an influence within the South Africa social commerce market share.

South Africa Social Commerce Market Trends:

Influencer-Led Shopping Drives Consumer Engagement

Influencer-led shopping is increasingly shaping the retail landscape in South Africa, because influencers have a major role for selling and promoting products directly to followers. Influencers do have authentic connections to audiences, also this trend does leverage these connections. This encourages a certain level of trust, and it drives most consumer purchasing decisions too. Since social media sites develop more shopping tools, brands gain from influencers a channel to engage with customers directly using content mixing commerce with entertainment. In 2025, brands used influencer-led social commerce for the purposes of deepening customer engagement as well as for improving of sales conversion rates. Relatable content with product recommendations helps influencers close the divide from discovery to purchase. This integration makes shopping more appealing and seamless. This trend enables consumers such that they reach well-educated decisions by way of peer-like recommendations as brand visibility is indeed increased. Consequently, influencer-led shopping greatly contributes to the South Africa social commerce market growth because it represents a dynamic shift in how consumers interact with brands and products across digital channels.

Mobile Platforms Enhance Shopping Accessibility

Mobile platforms have become central to the growth within social commerce in South Africa, and this makes online shopping more accessible and convenient for a wider audience. Consumers from across both urban areas and rural areas now browse smoothly and purchase products due to the expansion of smartphone usage, improvements regarding internet connectivity, and the affordability of data. This accessibility does allow retailers to get to previously untapped markets. Retailers can ease real-time engagement via social media apps plus mobile-friendly websites. In February of 2024, sources highlighted an important surge within mobile-driven online shopping. This surge reflects a transformative shift of consumer behavior toward digital channels. Mobile payment solutions improved, and shopping features integrated inside social apps simplify purchasing more, and this encourages buying spontaneously more often. This pattern impacts the South African retail system greatly because it builds custom customer relations when growing market scope. Because of how mobile platforms gain increasing reliance upon them, they are in fact a major driver that is supporting sustained expansion as well as deeper consumer engagement in connection with the South Africa social commerce market trends.

Integration of Social Media and E-Commerce Platforms

The merging of social media and e-commerce platforms is changing just how South African consumers can find products and then buy them online. Social networks are now not just spaces for interaction and content sharing but are direct sales channels where users browse, select, and buy products without leaving the app. This smooth integration simplifies the shopping experience because it combines social engagement with commerce, also businesses can present their products through interactive posts, stories, throughout live streams. Features like in-app checkout, product tagging, and shoppable videos improve purchases since they are convenient as well as immediate. Consumer behavior is shifting toward digital-first experiences, and this convergence supports more personalized marketing strategies. Brands can now tailor offerings to individual preferences through personalized marketing strategies. Smaller businesses also gain from integration because it lowers entry barriers plus lets them reach bigger audiences when marketing at relatively low costs.

South Africa Social Commerce Market Segmentation:

IMARC Group provides an analysis of the key trends in each segment of the market, along with forecasts at the country and regional levels for 2025-2033. Our report has categorized the market based on business model, device type, and product type.

Business Model Insights:

• Business to Consumer (B2C)
• Business to Business (B2B)
• Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

The report has provided a detailed breakup and analysis of the market based on the business model . This includes business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B), and consumer to consumer (C2C).

Device Type Insights:

• Laptops and PCs
• Mobiles
• Others

A detailed breakup and analysis of the market based on the device type have also been provided in the report. This includes laptops and PCs, mobiles, and others.

Product Type Insights:

• Personal and Beauty Care
• Apparel
• Accessories
• Home Products
• Health Supplements
• Food and Beverages
• Others

The report has provided a detailed breakup and analysis of the market based on the product type. This includes personal and beauty care, apparel, accessories, home products, health supplements, food and beverages, and others.

Regional Insights:

• Gauteng
• KwaZulu-Natal
• Western Cape
• Mpumalanga
• Eastern Cape
• Others

The report has also provided a comprehensive analysis of all the major regional markets, which include Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and others.

Competitive Landscape:

The market research report has also provided a comprehensive analysis of the competitive landscape. Competitive analysis such as market structure, key player positioning, top winning strategies, competitive dashboard, and company evaluation quadrant has been covered in the report. Also, detailed profiles of all major companies have been provided.

South Africa Social Commerce Market News:

• September 2024: Chpter, a Kenyan social commerce platform, has secured about $1.2 million in pre-seed funding so it can improve all its AI-driven sales tools all across Africa. Merchants can automate marketing alongside conversations with payments on channels like WhatsApp and Instagram by the platform. These automations are also permitted on social media. Chpter has operations located in Kenya and South Africa and it also plans to expand into additional African markets for the aim to transform social commerce by streamlining sales processes along with improving customer engagement.

South Africa Social Commerce Market Report Coverage:

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

• How has the South Africa social commerce market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?
• What is the breakup of the South Africa social commerce market on the basis of business model?
• What is the breakup of the South Africa social commerce market on the basis of device type?
• What is the breakup of the South Africa social commerce market on the basis of product type?
• What is the breakup of the South Africa social commerce market on the basis of region?
• What are the various stages in the value chain of the South Africa social commerce market? 
• What are the key driving factors and challenges in the South Africa social commerce market?
• What is the structure of the South Africa social commerce market and who are the key players?
• What is the degree of competition in the South Africa social commerce market? 

Key Benefits for Stakeholders:

• IMARC’s industry report offers a comprehensive quantitative analysis of various market segments, historical and current market trends, market forecasts, and dynamics of the South Africa social commerce market from 2019-2033.
• The research report provides the latest information on the market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the South Africa social commerce market.
• Porter's five forces analysis assist stakeholders in assessing the impact of new entrants, competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, and the threat of substitution. It helps stakeholders to analyze the level of competition within the South Africa social commerce industry and its attractiveness.
• Competitive landscape allows stakeholders to understand their competitive environment and provides an insight into the current positions of key players in the market.