Online sales are booming with some retailers reporting increases in sales of as much as 65 percent over last year as consumers run out of time and patience with traffic and poor service. Online electronics retailer Digital Planet said yesterday that 65 percent sales increases in January and February 2008 were the largest the company had experience since the “1999 internet boom”, according to Neil Watson, managing director of Digital Planet.

Netflorist, a South African online florist, reflects a similar picture: “While most retailers are experiencing negative growth, NetFlorist’s revenues grew at 35 percent year on year for January 2008.”

“Time-poor consumers will increasingly shift to online purchasing as online offerings improve and the cost of doing it yourself is higher than the delivery fee. This will be driven by increasing numbers of women, opening up markets for more traditionally feminine retail categories.” says Ryan Bacher, managing director of Netflorist.

“Feedback from our customers confirms that online shopping provides a better alternative to shopping at retail stores as it eliminates the normal frustrations experienced with shopping such as traffic, long queues and poorly trained sales staff to name but a few. We believe that this shift in mindset has had a direct impact on our business success. I think the age of the internet in South Africa has finally arrived,” says Watson.

Analyst Arthur Goldstuck of WorldWideWorx told Business Day that he estimates that online retailers in SA raked in R929m last year. That excluded sales of air tickets, with local airlines generating online sales of more than R3bn.