Market Trends of South Africa IoT Industry
The Retail Segment to Witness a Significant Growth
- IT News Africa organized the Digital Retail Africa program in January 2023 to explore revolutionary ideas and cutting-edge technologies to ride the new wave of consumerism in the African retail sector.
- Retailers are adopting AI and IoT solutions to provide shoppers with distinct shopping experiences. For instance, retailer Woolworths adopted a physical solution, integrating its social platforms with its physical outlets through an in-store InstaShop. Woolworths intends to adopt more nascent technologies, such as near-field technology (NFT) and immersive metaverse shopping, going forward.
- Launching the Kyosk app gives traditional retailers market data visibility and last-mile delivery. Local eateries can order quality products at competitive prices and deliver them within 24 hours. Even small-holder farmers are using the app to get end-to-end value chain digitization.
- In August 2022, South African retailer Pick n Pay migrated its entire on-premises information technology infrastructure to its public cloud computing platform. This way, it was expected to be able to streamline its business operations and modernize its supply chain network for individual stores.
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Growing Markets in Africa is Expected to Propel the Demand for IoT
- Telecom companies in South Africa intend to phase out their 2G and 3G networks as they invest in cutting-edge technologies. Solution providers, particularly in the IoT arena, are racing to manage this shift, and many are considering newer networking technologies like 4G, 5G, and NB-IoT as substitutes.
- At the beginning of 2023, there were 43.48 million internet users, with 112.7 million active mobile connections in South Africa, and internet penetration stood at 72.3 percent. The increasing demand for the internet is accelerating the use of IoT in various sectors. Since South Africa is an Android-dominant market, WhatsApp, most people's default messaging service, has become a fundamental tool for business communication.
- A large chunk of South African consumers shop at Shoprite. To enhance the customer shopping experience, the supermarket brand launched a shopping app called ShopriteX.
- DStv (Digital Satellite Television) is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service that started WhatsApp Services to enable customers to troubleshoot problems, update subscription packages, and manage their accounts through WhatsApp.
