Lockdown in 2020 probably marked the year in which the internet changed the way consumers in SA shopped. Forced to be homebound because of the Covid-19-related lockdown, some consumers embraced online shopping, which also helped them to avoid shopping malls for fear of contracting the virus. Despite this shift, online shopping in SA is probably still small. It was last measured by independent technology market research group World Wide Worx to account for just 1.4% of total sales in 2018. Online shopping was forecast to grow to 2% by 2022. The lockdown has forced many retailers — especially those selling groceries — to invest in their e-commerce platforms to improve the customer experience. But there have also been investments in back-end functions that make online shopping possible, such as payment processing technology and delivery infrastructure.