Takealot’s plan to grow its R2.3-billion annual revenue
Takealot is dominating the South African eCommerce market, and the company plans to aggressively grow its customer base and revenue.
Over the past financial year, Takealot’s turnover was R2.3 billion and it processed over 2.9 million transactions from around 1 million customers.
These numbers are set to grow in the current financial year, which is illustrated by Takealot’s growth in Black Friday revenue over the years.
Takealot’s Black Friday turnover climbed from R1 million in 2011, to R17 million in 2015, to R56 million in 2016.
This year, Takealot expects its Black Friday revenue to grow by over 50% – which means it will exceed R80 million.
There is no local online retailer which can come close to this figure, and if Takealot’s strategy is executed as planned, it will extend its lead in this space.
As part of its business plan, Takealot is scaling-up its logistics operations in the lead-up to Black Friday and this year’s festive season.
The company is also optimising its delivery team to achieve efficiencies, as it continues to acquire new customers.
“Given the mobile usage across the South African market, we know that attracting app users and mobile site shoppers will be key, so optimising this experience for new customers is a big focus,” said Takealot.
Marketplace
Takealot’s marketplace platform has further helped it to grow its comprehensive product catalogue, while ensuring good service levels to customers.
Its growing product range and better service levels saw it grow its customer base by between 30% and 35% annually.
The online retailer’s dominant position is partly thanks to large investments from Naspers and Tiger Global Management.
They have helped the company improve its operations and delivery through the acquisition of Mr Delivery, and achieve better scale through smaller eCommerce acquisitions.
Although Takealot is not yet profitable, it is working on this.
“To achieve profitability, you need scale and efficiency. Building scale requires funds and we fortunately have very supportive investors,” said Takealot.
“Our focus now is investing in organic growth – people, technology, and processes – to take us to the point of self-sufficiency.”
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