South Africa, May 13 -- Before Covid-19, online retail in South Africa was on the rise. While estimated to make up just 1.4% of total national retail sales in 2018, the industry was on track to doubling this contribution by 2022, according to the Online Retail in South Africa 2019 study conducted by World Wide Worx.

The future looked bright for online retailers with promise of a broader range of businesses in terms of category, size, turnover and employee numbers.

Then came Covid-19 and the national lockdown - leaving South African online retailers up the proverbial creek with only a miniature essential services paddle.

If online shopping as a whole is a ship, e-commerce is just the rudder

E-commerce has a much wider reach than one of...