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eCommerce Developer Salary Trends in South Africa

29 August 2023 , by Josh Nel

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1 in 10 South African developers view eCommerce as one of the most promising industries over the next five years. Here we’ll look at the average eCommerce developer salary at each stage of their careers and how they compare to developers working in FinTech, Cloud technology, and Software as a Service (SaaS).

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Junior eCommerce developer salary

The average salary for an entry-level eCommerce developer starts at R33 076 per month, 37.2% higher than 2022’s average.

Entry-level eCommerce developers earn, on average, 26.9% and 46.4% more than their FinTech and SaaS counterparts respectively. However, they earn 3.6% less than the average Cloud developer.

The average junior eCommerce developer salary increase by 18.8% once they’ve gained at least two years of experience. This gives them an average monthly salary of R39 278 which is 30.1% more than they earned in 2022.

By this stage of their careers, they’re still earning 28.7% more than junior SaaS developers and 6.1% more than their FinTech counterparts. They still trail junior Cloud developers by 6%.

Mid-level eCommerce developers with four to six years of experience see their salaries increase by 24.1% to an average of R48 727, 15.6% more than 2022’s average. At this stage of their careers, the’ve been overtaken by their FinTech counterparts and earn 9.9% less. At the same time, they’re now earning 6.6% less than Cloud counterparts.

They’ve also seen their advantage over mid-level SaaS developers narrow to 6.6%.

eCommerce Developer Salaries by Experience



Average Salary by Years Experience, showing 25th and 75th percentiles
Years of Experience 25th Percentile Average 75th Percentile
0-2 R17,500 R33,076 R37,500
2-4 R22,500 R39,278 R48,500
4-6 R27,500 R48,727 R56,500
6-10 R42,500 R62,486 R82,500
10+ R58,750 R90,574 R97,500

Senior eCommerce developer salary

The average senior eCommerce developer salary increases by 28.2% once they’ve passed the six years of experience mark. This gives them an average monthly salary of R62 486.

Despite this increase, senior eCommerce developers seen the gap between themselves and their SaaS counterparts close entirely. They’ve also seen the earnings difference between themselves and senior FinTech and cloud developers widen to 10.8% and 11.7% respectively.

eCommerce developers with more than ten years of experience can look forward to the most significant increase of their careers. They can expect a 45% increase giving them an average salary of R90 574.

Senior eCommerce developers in this experience bracket now earn 1% and 4% more than senior FinTech and SaaS developers with comparable experience, respectively. The gap between them and their Cloud counterparts has practically disappeared with just 0.8% separating senior developers in these industries.

Keep in mind

The data in this article is taken from OfferZen's 2023 State of the Software Developer Nation Report. In this article, 'salary' refers to the gross monthly salary (before tax) provided by more than 4500 survey respondents.

Average salaries are single data points and only one part of a bigger story. It's expected that many respondents may earn significantly more or less than these averages. However, we hope to provide a picture of underlying trends by mapping the average salaries for different experience levels.

Salaries depend on the industry, individual, perks and nature of work. These factors all influence the salary a company will offer to a prospective hire. In addition, most developers are "fluent" in several languages, which will affect the final figures.

It's also important to remember that every individual's context is different. Ultimately, salary is a personal conversation that should take place between employee and employer.

On OfferZen, you can hire software developers and find software engineer jobs.

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