(24 August 2012) As many as 71% of buyers and sellers on South Africa’s online marketplace bobshop.co.za use their smart phone or tablet to access the site, reveal the results of the 2012 Bob Shop survey.

"This is the single most important trend we have seen in recent years", says Bob Shop CEO Jaco Jonker. "It certainly justifies all the work we are putting into adapting our large and multifaceted trading platform for the best mobile experience".

All in all, 11,763 people took part in the month-long Bob Shop 2012 survey. Although the survey was open to all visitors to bobshop.co.za, 84% of participants have either bought or sold something on the site.

“The impressive number of responses means we have a representative sample size which we can use as a guideline in our constant quest for improvements”, says Bob Shop CEO.

“We are pleased to note that 93% of the 8782 buyers who participated in the survey are very satisfied or satisfied with their experience on Bob Shop, and that 93% of 1018 participating sellers evaluate the site as excellent or good”, he adds and continues:

"It is also clear that many Bob Shop novices are hesitant to take the plunge with online shopping due to safety and security concerns."

As many as 60% of the 1863 respondents who never traded on the site visit www.bobshop.co.za at least once a week for product information and price comparison. However, 31% of these non-users are not familiar with the Bob Shop rating system, verified sellers and buyers’ protection programme, all of which are designed to afford additional peace of mind to shoppers.

As for buyers, over 90% ensure they check sellers’ ratings before making a purchase and almost 70% have made repeat purchases on Bob Shop, with between 3 and 31 products.

The buyers state that the biggest benefits of shopping on Bob Shop are: the range of products on offer, the thrill of picking up a bargain on auction, the convenience of online shopping, and the ability to get good value for money.

While over half of buyers who participated in the survey also use travel or ticket websites to make online purchases, as many as one third say that, when they shop online, they shop only on Bob Shop. "This, together with the fact that a quarter of sellers make a living on Bob Shop, is an excellent indication of the viability of an online platform, such as Bob Shop, that enables buyers and sellers to trade directly with each other online", says Jaco Jonker.

A further 63% of the participating sellers say they make extra cash on Bob Shop and almost 60% have sold more than 50 products on Bob Shop.

Over 70% of sellers and 76% of buyers visit www.bobshop.co.za every day or at least once a week.