The role of online social networks in facilitating the stockpiling of household goods as a financial coping mechanism for women in Gauteng townships

Abstract

Township women in Gauteng manage household essentials in a context of rising prices, unpredictable incomes and almost no formal financial safety nets. In this pressure, stockpiling, which is buying in bulk and thereby timing these purchases to promotions, has become a practical way to stretch budgets. Digital platforms now enable this behaviour at scale. This qualitative study explored how fourteen women coordinate digitally facilitated stockpiling. Using thematic analysis within Social Capital Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study traced how everyday decisions turn into organised routines. The findings show a consistent multi-platform workflow. Facebook is used to find and verify deals, TikTok helps confirm prices and stock availability in real time, and WhatsApp serves as the central hub where sales happen, contributions are tracked and transport is organised. The main motivations are saving money, smoothing consumption around South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) payout cycles and gaining a sense of psychological security. Facebook groups also show notable structure, with specialised roles such as scouts, accountants and coordinators. These insights inform the Township Stockpiling Resilience Model (TSRM), which shows how platform use, shared motivations and collaborative routines convert economic volatility into household stability. The model reflects a form of digital ubuntu and documents township-specific “stockpile windows” that differ from Western platform logic. The study contributes to work on the digital informal economy and highlights opportunities for retailers, such as WhatsApp Application Programming Interface (API) ordering, spaza-based collection points and risk templates, to better serve this emerging stockpiling market.