The South African online marketplace is rapidly maturing and more people are spending money online. Generally speaking, it takes the average Internet user 5 years to become comfortable making an online purchase. Well, as of 2011, 3.6 million South Africans were now in this position and the number is only expected to grow. The Online Retail in South Africa 2011 report found that 17% of Internet users made a purchase online in 2010. The amount of dollars spent online grew by more than 30% from 2009. What’s more, most online retailers are profitable. Of course, a business is only able to be profitable online if it has web presence in the first place. And creating that footprint isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

iKomee is a new Cape Town-based software company with dreams to bring small businesses online. Based in Cape Town, the small company hopes to capture the growing demand for e-commerce and online advertising in South Africa. Recently, the folks at iKomee launched online store theme software which allows users to create their own online stores with their own unique designs. Any novice Internet user will be able to design and launch a professional-grade website with relatively no effort. Users of the platform can begin selling their products almost immediately.

iKomee logo

As the iKomee team told us via email, there are many talented individuals in South Africa who craft many different and amazing products and end up selling them on local markets. Such sellers miss out on national (or even global opportunities). With iKomee, however, even the smallest of businesses stand a greater chance at reaching a wider audience.