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Assessing the Strategic Impact of AI Agent Adoption on E-Commerce Startups in South Africa

 

AI agents, defined as autonomous systems capable of reasoning and executing complex workflows, offer immense potential to fundamentally enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.

A startup is defined by stage, not age. For this study, it includes any ecommerce business OR any ecommerce function within a larger organisation that is still developing, testing, improving, or scaling its digital operations.

This includes:

  • ecommerce divisions inside established companies
  • SMEs growing their online presence
  • Takealot sellers expanding digitally
  • companies launching new digital channels
  • teams experimenting with AI or improving digital workflows
  • ecommerce consultants or professionals supporting online stores
  • agencies managing ecommerce operations
  • any brand without a fully mature ecommerce or AI strategy

To give context: Uber wasn’t profitable for 13 years and was still considered a startup. Amazon remained in its startup phase for nearly a decade. Many digital businesses stay in “startup stage” for 5–12 years.

If your ecommerce operations are not yet fully automated, optimised, or mature, you also qualify for this study.

If you’re a consultant, advisor, or professional working with ecommerce clients, please complete the survey while wearing the hat of one of your clients. Start-ups also include new ecommerce divisions within larger companies that have recently transitioned into online selling. We also welcome responses from businesses or professionals offering products or services, even if you do not yet have a digital, ecommerce, or AI strategy in place.

Purpose of the Study:

This survey forms part of an academic research project that seeks to understand how South African e-commerce startups are adopting Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and how these technologies influence their strategic performance. The research aims to identify adoption patterns, challenges, and measurable outcomes such as customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and revenue growth. South Africa has almost no academic data on how ecommerce teams actually use AI. Your input fills that national gap.

Why Your Input Matters:

As a founder, executive, or manager in an e-commerce startup, your experiences provide vital insights into how AI technologies are shaping real business outcomes in South Africa’s digital economy. Your responses will contribute to the development of an evidence-based strategic framework to guide sustainable AI adoption among startups.

Confidentiality:

All data collected will be used solely for academic purposes and will remain strictly confidential. No individual or company identifiers will be disclosed.

Estimated Completion Time: 8–10 minutes.

Welcome to the Research Survey


Dear Participant,

My name is Keeren Mansingh and I am a student at MANCOSA. I am conducting research regarding the  Strategic Impact of AI Agent Adoption on E-Commerce Startups in South Africa.

Your responses will assist me in understanding your views and perceptions about the above.   

The information you provide will go a long way in helping us determine the impact of implementing artificial intelligence (AI) within a business.

The questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Kindly answer all questions as honestly as possible. Anonymity is ensured in this questionnaire which is in no way a reflection of you or your work. The information obtained will be treated with confidentiality. 

Thank you in anticipation for your time and participation! 

Kind Regards

Researcher: Keeren Mansingh

Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

Phone: 0742866984  

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this academic study entitled

Research Title: Assessing the Strategic Impact of AI Agent Adoption on E-Commerce Startups in South Africa

 

This survey is anonymous.

The record of your survey responses does not contain any identifying information about you, unless a specific survey question explicitly asked for it.

If you used an identifying access code to access this survey, please rest assured that this code will not be stored together with your responses. It is managed in a separate database and will only be updated to indicate whether you did (or did not) complete this survey. There is no way of matching identification access codes with survey responses.

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