Almost 80% of online shoppers in South Africa could be “cross-border shoppers in the coming years”‚ according to an Ipsos study released on Monday.

That prediction was extrapolated from results that showed that “up to 46% of South African online shoppers have actually said that they already shop outside the country” and 33% “saying they haven’t yet but are looking to…in the future”.

The research‚ done by Ipsos on behalf of PayPal and FNB‚ also showed that South Africans “are mainly concerned about safety of online payments and delivery of products”.

The bulk of goods sourced by SA online shoppers come from North America and Europe‚ 51% and 39% respectively‚ while 24% come from Asia‚ three-quarters of which come from China.

While 75% of respondents to the study cited the security of payments as a concern‚ this came second as a “key barrier to cross border shopping…to the fear that delivered goods would not come as described when ordered” – a fear shared by 81% in the study.

Ipsos’ finding also revealed the popularity of the South African e-Commerce‚ particularly for shoppers from Nigeria.

“The research shows that 30% of Nigerian cross-border shoppers have purchased goods from South Africa‚ the third-largest market behind North America (38%) and Europe at 41% of shoppers‚” a statement said.