Online sales speed up
Online IT retailer Digital Planet is looking to narrow its range of products and improve its customer service with speedier delivery. The company, one of the first online retailers in South Africa, says that since its recently-launched 24-hour delivery option, it had already seen "significant growth".
Digital Planet MD Neil Watson says that "by promoting 24-hour delivery, we ensure that we meet customer needs because we understand that consumers want to be spoilt for choice and they want their items quickly".
Karyn Lovesay, Digital Planet general manager, says that 24-hour delivery was piloted late last year and launched a couple of months ago. "The service has proved to be very popular," and accounts for a 25% increase in sales, she says.
Lovesay says that the company introduced speedier delivery because online retail success is "more about customer service … and keeping customers happy".
Lovesay said that Digital Planet pre-orders popular product lines to be able to deliver them within 24 hours.
Digital Planet it also evaluating its product range and will look at dropping certain less popular items because the retailer has a "lot of products to maintain". Lovesay would not say exactly what products it was considering removing as they are still being evaluated.
World Wide Worx analyst Arthur Goldstuck says that speed of delivery is just one of the elements in a successful online shopping. Goldstuck says that for niche, specialist retailers, speedy delivery is often less important than having the wide range. However, in the grocery and florist retail sector, for example, rapid delivery is critical to success.
Goldstuck says that South Africans spent an estimated R929 million on online purchases in 2007, 35% up on the previous year. He estimates that 2008 online sales will grow by another 35%.
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