Good news for people who shop on Amazon in South Africa
Amazon will hold its first Prime Day shopping event in South Africa from 23 to 29 June 2026, giving local Prime members exclusive access to deals.
Amazon Prime launched in South Africa on 3 June, and the company confirmed that South Africa would be included in its flagship annual global shopping event reserved for Prime subscribers.
“For the first time, we will be doing Prime Day. There are seven days of exclusive deals for Prime members during that Prime week,” said Robert Koen, Amazon managing director for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prime Day is one of Amazon’s most important annual retail events and has become a major driver of Prime subscriptions in other markets.
Its arrival in South Africa gives Amazon a new tool to grow its local Prime membership base and increase shopping activity on Amazon.co.za.
Ahead of Prime Day, as part of the launch of Amazon Prime in South Africa, Koen said they were already offering exclusive deals for members.
“There is an additional discount for Prime members on some of the Everyday Essential items, and there are one or two deals that we have hidden around for them,” Koen told MyBroadband.
This discount required members to enter a coupon code at checkout, offering an additional 30% off an order, up to a maximum of R1,000.
Amazon launched Prime in South Africa as an all-in-one membership that includes delivery benefits, Prime Video, gaming perks, and exclusive deals.
Koen said existing Prime Video subscribers would automatically move to Prime when their subscriptions renew, creating an immediate membership base for the service.
Customers who signed up for Prime before their Prime Video subscriptions renewed would receive a refund for any remaining Prime Video account value.
Although Amazon would not disclose country-specific subscriber numbers, Koen said Prime Video had a large, loyal, and fast-growing base in South Africa.
He said many of those subscribers were also shoppers, which gave Amazon an opportunity to connect entertainment, delivery, and retail benefits.
Amazon Prime in South Africa
Prime members in South Africa get fast, free, unlimited delivery on purchases made on the Amazon.co.za marketplace, with no minimum order value.
“You do not have to wait to collect status. You are getting these benefits on day one, and you can participate in Prime Day,” Koen said.
“Then there is the fun stuff, like streaming, gaming, and all those kinds of things.”
Amazon already offered same-day delivery in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town, which Koen said was free and unlimited for Prime members.
He said speed remained important to local customers, but reliability and predictable delivery windows were also key parts of Amazon’s strategy.
The company also introduced multi-delivery windows in South Africa, allowing customers to plan around a more specific delivery time.
“Then you can plan your day. You can go and pick up the kids because your delivery will arrive before or after the scheduled time. We will continue to look at innovations like that,” said Koen.
This complemented Amazon’s partnership with Pargo and The Courier Guy’s Pudo to provide pickup points at parcel lockers nationwide.
“We have more than 4,000 pickup points around the country. So, if you are on a farm or in a rural area, when you do come into town, you can go and do your pickup at the local pickup point,” said Koen.
“Whether it is a locker or a physical pickup point, that is super convenient, and we are certainly seeing uptake.”
Amazon’s South African push
Koen said Amazon was still early in its local retail journey, with online shopping penetration in South Africa remaining in single digits.
He said this was low compared with markets such as the United Kingdom, Poland, Brazil, and Australia, leaving room for e-commerce growth.
“We are very excited by the trajectory. We have exceeded all of our goals for the store, and Q4 was huge for us,” Koen told MyBroadband.
“One metric which is quite interesting is repeat purchases. It is actually the highest of any store we have launched.”
Koen said that was very encouraging because if they attract a lot of customers who don’t like the experience and don’t return, then they weren’t doing their jobs.
“Another exciting thing, if you look at a heat map of South Africa, we are getting amazing uptake from all areas of the country. There are little hot pockets around the rural Eastern Cape,” Koen said.
“If you think about it, if you are living in a smaller town and all of a sudden you have this full selection, great value for money, and the convenience of getting it delivered, that is pretty game-changing.”
Koen declined to discuss future plans when asked whether Amazon would enter fast-food delivery in South Africa to compete more directly with TakealotMore, Takealot’s Prime competitor.
He said Amazon would continue listening to customers and looking at innovations that improve convenience, selection, value, and delivery reliability.
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