The Mzansi Consumer Barometer is our fourth annual check in with South African consumers. We spoke to connected South Africans shortly before the elections to track key consumer behaviours and establish and decipher what their top concerns are and how it is affecting their behaviour. The mood of the nation proved to be a united one, while the state of our nation seems to show some serious concerns.
The state of our nation
So, how are South Africans feeling currently? Their top five biggest concerns this year are, in order, loadshedding, the rise of unemployment, the rising cost of living, crime and violence and corruption in government. This is the second year that loadshedding has been named the main concern, while corruption in government has moved from third to fifth position. This is likely thanks to the anti-corruption movement, Transparency International (TI), releasing the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which now sees SA at its lowest ever level of corruption at 41 points out of a possible 100.
The rise of unemployment has moved up from fifth to second place, bumping the rising cost of living to third place. Crime and violence are still in fourth place, with South Africans feeling similarly about this concern to the way they did in previous years.
When looking at the cost of living in SA, the top three categories that South Africans noted an increase in cost were electricity and water, meat and eggs (remember the chicken and egg shortage?) and petrol and/or transport.
But South Africans are built differently
While the concerns of South Africans potentially paint a bleak outlook, we remain optimistic with 40% believing that things will get better as opposed to last year, which saw only a third of the population believing things will get better. This outlook is mainly driven by the youth of SA, with the highest levels of pessimism amongst older South Africans and those who live in townships.
Financially, 50% of South Africans’ sources of household income are predominantly salaries, grants and piece work. More households are optimistic about their future household financial position than are optimistic of the economic and societal momentum; with more than half (54%) hopeful for a more favourable financial position in a years’ time, particularly higher income and younger South Africans (18–34-year-olds). This is largely enabled by a hustler mindset, with 39% of South Africans actively considering how to create additional income to the home, 22% have already started a business, 20% say their business is their primary source of income, 9% have a second job, leaving only 9% who are not doing anything differently to supplement their income.
The plate of our nation
Kantar’s shopper panel shows FMCG inflation at 9%, while CPI sits at 5.5% (lower than last year which was 16%). To manage this, we are increasingly reducing luxuries and being super savvy in where and how we shop – by doing things like accessing discounts and joining loyalty programmes to get more into our homes. 40% of the population are buying only what is really needed and cutting back on spending, while 32% are saving or investing their money. The luxuries we are reducing include eating out (63%), unnecessary food items (60%) and alcohol (51%) – followed closely by holidays (47%), clothes, shoes and accessories (45%) and going out with friends and family (45%). Reducing luxuries means literally eating and using less – this is particularly evident in beverages (-7.8%) and dairy (-14.6%).
On average, shoppers are reportedly still spending the same amount per shop, but are buying fewer things and redefining new categories altogether by re-evaluating and consolidating to meet their needs, i.e. by buying products that can be used for more than one or multiple functions (Pine-Gel anyone?). We are also trying out cheaper brands more than previously, especially in lower income groups, increasing steadily from 32% in 2022 to 43% in 2024, in order to create budget to access the brands we want (even when they are more expensive). This does not mean that South Africans are deserting brands, but rather we are prioritising budget behind brands we love and trading off on brands that do not hold as much value in our lives. We are also increasing our repertoires to include different pack sizes and “good enough” options which indicates the need for brand marketers to offer variants to consumers.
We are becoming a nation of smart value-hackers
South Africans have a heightened sense of awareness for clever ways to hack the system and get more value from their efforts. Value-hacking is all about designing a life that is friction-free, enabled by brands that work together to alleviate the mental load in the consumer’s world, to predict and cater to consumer needs before they even think about them, AND value-filled, with brands and businesses partnering to deliver more utility in consumers’ lives, resulting in them no longer being forced to compromise because of time and money constraints.
Kantar’s research shows that South Africans are placing higher demand on the brands in our ecosystems, seeking out value wherever we can. Yip, we as consumers are more demanding and more sophisticated than ever before! Brand marketers need to understand the whole human, and all the brands in their ecosystem holistically, in order to offer them options that fit seamlessly into our lives by eliminating friction and adding value.
South African consumers have been taught that they can have their cake and eat it too, and no longer want to make the trade-off between frictionless living and value. The mindset is about making more from less – while people are consuming less and enjoying their lives less (due to inflation) – most have stripped out luxury from their lives without replacing it with anything. We have the mindset of making more from less, not willing to give up our joy. An example of this can be seen in foodies of SA that partner with brands to help us turn everyday staples into ‘gourmet’ meals.
BrandingKantar 19 Jun 2024
Consumers want to partner with brands that add meaningful value to their ecosystems (e.g. Clicks, Vodacom, Vitality, eBucks) and all brands of store rewards cards. 99% of connected South Africans have a store rewards card – 65% of South Africans want some version of ‘cash’ back – and the saying ‘cash is king’ can also translate to ‘utility’ and ‘choice’ is king, with 23% wanting to be able to buy ‘things I need’ and 10% wanting to use it for entertainment.
Rewards programmes are becoming central to the value-hacker’s ecosystem, with the top five loyalty programmes being (in order) Shoprite Xtra Savings, PnP Smart Shopper, Checkers Xtra Savings, Clicks ClubCard, and Spar Rewards. Amongst higher income levels, Checkers Xtra, FNB eBucks and WRewards are most popular.
Beyond rewards, there is power in partnering with existing platforms to consolidate and create value in consumers’ lives. Below we share and example of Lebo’s ecosystem of brands (the brands in her life) that have embedded other brands into her life purely because of the partners she has the closest relationship too, which are FNB, Checkers and Mr D.
This lifestyle is not only available to the wealthy, but across income groups – apps like MoyaApp are consolidating many apps in one place, which creates opportunities for brands to partner. In the future it will be all about an ecosystem of brands that add meaningful value, seamlessly, as consumers do not want to jump through hoops. This calls for two big shifts in brand thinking, from focus on the brand’s own category and ownership of the entire customer experience, to focus on lifestyles, ecosystems and courageous collaboration.
How our nation shops - online vs in-store shopping or bricks vs clicks?
We are still an offline-preferred market, as South Africans still predominantly prefer to shop in-store, particularly those in townships:
The overall percentage of people who shop online (i.e. using any platform connected to the internet, that enables a transaction) remains around 80%, with a big increase amongst the lower income groups, and all are well versed in the use of ecommerce websites. There is also a high usage of store websites which likely relates to the comparison of prices online (67% use ecommerce websites like Takealot, Makro Online, Woolies Dash, Checkers Sixty60).
About the study
The 2024 Mzansi Consumer Barometer is Kantar’s fourth annual check in with South African consumers and tracks key consumer behaviours, from the evolving financial and social wellbeing of households, changes to income and the leisure and work-based activities of South Africans. We spoke to 415 South Africans, representative of the connected population. Catch our launch webinar on demand here. Connect with our presenters, Stacy Jayne Saggers, commercial growth partner and Renissa Gounden, director, consulting, Kantar.
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