By Rakhee Naik. South African retail data shows consumers notice TV ads, social media, and emails the most – but ad fatigue is rising, making relevance and engagement more critical than ever.
For media planners and strategists, understanding how consumers engage with brand communication is critical to optimising media investments across retail categories. Whether in Clothing and Footwear, Food and Groceries, or General Retail, different communication channels drive varying levels of consumer attention and conversion.
How consumers notice brand communication
Data from KLA’s YouGov Profiles (tracking South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+) provides key insights into how brand messaging resonates across retail sectors. Across all categories, branded TV ads, social media promotions, and branded emails are the most noticed. However, some sector-specific trends stand out:
- Social media plays a more prominent role in Food and Groceries and General Retail, likely due to real-time promotions and interactive engagement.
- Clothing and Footwear consumers demonstrate higher engagement with mobile device ads (39%) and newspaper inserts (36%), indicating these as valuable channels for visibility.
- Magazine inserts have the lowest visibility across all sectors, reinforcing a declining relevance for print-based communication.
These trends highlight the need for sector-tailored media strategies to maximise impact.
Read more media statistics:
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- Streaming in SA: who’s watching where and what (Oct 2024)
What drives purchases?
Not all communication channels influence purchases equally. While social media promotions drive engagement across all retail sectors, the effectiveness of other channels varies:
- Branded TV advertising is most effective in Clothing and Footwear, leveraging visual storytelling to influence purchase intent.
- Branded emails hold greater weight in Food and Groceries and General Retail, where consumers respond to promotions, product updates, and loyalty incentives.
- Billboards contribute to brand awareness but have limited direct impact on conversion rates across all sectors.
For media strategists, these insights underline the need for a balanced mix of upper-funnel awareness channels and conversion-driving digital touchpoints.
Digital channels and the purchasing journey
With digital transformation accelerating, online platforms play a pivotal role in the retail journey:
- 70% of consumers browse online before making a purchase, reinforcing the importance of digital discovery.
- In Clothing and Footwear, there is a near-even split between those who browse online and purchase online (49%) versus those who browse online and buy in-store (45%).
- Food and Groceries (47%) and General Retail (49%) see stronger online purchase behavior, driven by e-commerce convenience and home delivery.
- Click-and-collect services are gaining traction, particularly in Food and Groceries (44%), alongside a rise in grocery delivery app usage (38%) through platforms like Checkers Sixty60, SPAR2U, Woolies Dash, and Pick n Pay ASAP!.
Brands must develop an omnichannel strategy that connects digital discovery with offline purchases.
Consumer expectations from brand communication
Consumers expect brand messaging to be authentic and relevant:
- Representation matters — seeing “real-looking” people in ads is crucial across all retail sectors.
- 76% of Clothing and Footwear consumers expect brands to engage in social issues, signaling a growing demand for purpose-driven messaging.
- Advertising fatigue is high, with 63% of Clothing, 61% of General Retail, and 59% of Food and Grocery consumers feeling overwhelmed by brand messaging.
- Ad annoyance is more pronounced in Food and Groceries (53%) and General Retail (53%) compared to Clothing (46%), demonstrating the need for differentiation and consumer-centric engagement.
These insights suggest that media strategies should focus on relevance, storytelling, and consumer engagement rather than volume alone.
The role of loyalty and value in brand preference
In a price-sensitive market, value and affordability drive purchases, but quality and brand loyalty also play a key role:
- Loyalty programme members are significantly more likely to recommend brands and maintain brand commitment.
- Affordability matters, but quality commands a premium—consumers seek the best value rather than just the lowest price.
- Loyalty programmes offer a strategic advantage, driving retention through personalized offers and exclusive benefits.
Incorporating loyalty-driven messaging in campaigns is key to enhancing consumer stickiness and lifetime value.
A changing retail communication landscape
As consumer preferences evolve, media strategies must adapt to an increasingly digital-first retail environment. While traditional channels such as TV and billboards still play a role, digital engagement, social media promotions, and personalised loyalty initiatives are now central to influencing purchasing decisions. To maximise impact, brands need to embrace an agile, data-driven approach that aligns media investment with changing consumer behaviours.
Methodology
Profiles: Segmentation and media planning tool. With data collected daily, YouGov Profiles gives you the power to build and customise a portrait of your consumers’ world. More than 12,500 variables are available in South Africa.
Dataset: 2025-02-16
Population: South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+ who are current customers of Clothing and Footwear brands, Food and Grocery brands, and General Retailer brands
Population groups filtered by: Current customers of Clothing and Footwear brands, n=400, Food and Grocery brands, n=967, General retailer brands, n=1654
Rakhee Naik is a managing consultant: Insights at KLA.
