Facebook money transfer and payment service ZunguZ is triggering a wild rush for online shopping in South Africa, according to the apps co-founder.
According to Robert Sussman, the app’s co-founder, the requests for the service have been overwhelming, some from banks operating worldwide, but most interestingly from South Africa’s prominent banks.
Sussman is excited that this will push online shopping in the country to great heights as Facebook users are increasing by the day in South Africa. According to Social Bakers, there are around 5 million Facebook users in the country with 31 percent of them between 18 years and 34.
Zunguz, which boasts of linking shoppers online on the giant social networking site, claims that this figures show an encouraging trend.
Peer influence to shipping is also likely to go up with a new feature on Facebook that records who has visited which page. The ‘seen by’ feature can be used by merchants to sell their products online.
In a report dubbed The Online Retail in SA 2011, more than R2-billion was spent by South Africa’s online shoppers. It was expected to grow by 40 percent in 2012. Arthur Goldstuck MD World Wide Worx said the study projected the expected rise in online shopping even as the number of Internet users in South Africa escalated.
Online retail in South Africa, according to Stats SA, grew four times in 2010 more than physical retail, 23 percent more than physical retail showing that the future lay in online shopping.
The SA online shopping is growing. Wayne Gosling, CEO of Groupon South Africa, one of the leaders in online shopping in SA claims that its simple online presence with an easy-to-use website.
According to Gosling, the firm, which offers up to 70 percent discounts will still be expanding with time.
“We all need treats, even when things are tight,” he said.
Sussman says ZunguZ’s growth is people-centred as it is not a payment platform per se but acts as a link between friends on the social network. The network says social media influences so much on what peers buy, which should not be ignored by retailers. An earlier report reveals ignoring peer influence leads to losses of close to $9 billion in missed revenue for retailers annually.
ZunguZ therefore expects to build on social media influence to leverage retailers sales and is aiming at shaping the purchasing decisions of some billion users across the world.
