Online retail fuels courier business

The boom in the online B2C industry is fuelling the African courier and express parcel (CEP) market, with some estimates already putting B2C deliveries at one in every four of all packages delivered by CEP businesses in the West. The pace of online retail growth in Africa will however depend on the rapid uptake of digital connectivity, the high rate of consumptive growth rates of the growing middle class, and the availability of rapid delivery systems, according to industry sources. eMarketer reports an increase in South African online retailing from R3.3m in 2012 to a projected R4.4m in 2013 - a growth of 33%. INSERT 33% Projected year-on-year growth in SA online retailing