Major Takealot delivery changes
Takealot has increased its standard delivery fee and significantly increased the minimum threshold for orders to qualify for free delivery.
Orders must now be a minimum of R650 to qualify for free delivery, up from R500.
Its standard delivery charge for non-qualifying orders has also increased from R70 to R75.
Same-day delivery will cost shoppers R95, while next-day delivery is R90 for orders below R650 and R75 for orders above the threshold.
The change comes after Takealot.com reported its first profit in the financial year that ended on 31 March 2024.
Takealot Group CEO Frederik Zietsman said they are now poised for rapid growth.
“If you look at Takealot.com, we expanded our fixed cost base post-Covid, then we grew into that base last year, and we made a profit,” said Zietsman.
He explained that this was the nature of the J-curve in e-commerce.
Zietsman said the principle behind the J-curve is that as a company recovers from its fixed-cost expenditures, it can start to grow rapidly.
According to Zietsman, this is the phase that Takealot is currently in.
“You need to incur fixed costs ahead of your revenue curve if you are in e-commerce. You expand your fixed cost base for the next 12–18 months, and then you grow into that base,” he said.
Takealot last increased its free delivery threshold from R450 to R500 on 1 August 2022. It also increased its standard delivery charge from R60 to R65 two years ago.
Before that, the last time Takealot made major changes to its delivery thresholds was in March 2017.
Seven years ago, Takealot’s minimum threshold for free delivery was a mere R250, while standard shipping was R35.
When asked about the change at the time, Takealot assured that it would continue to offer free deliveries for orders above a minimum threshold as long as it remained a valuable, sustainable offering.
Takealot said at the time that it couldn’t keep its free order delivery threshold at R250 as it wouldn’t be sustainable without increasing its prices and delivery charges — neither of which it wanted to do.
“So the best option for our customers is to increase the qualifying minimum spend amount for every free delivery,” said Takealot.
“Making this change allows us to keep our prices low, delivery charges the same, and keeps our delivery options competitive with other South African online stores.”
The following table from Takealot’s website summarises its new delivery fees.
| Takealot delivery charges — without TakealotMore | ||
|---|---|---|
| Delivery Type | Below R650 | Above R650 |
| Same Day | R95 | R95 |
| Next Day | R90 | R75 |
| Saturday | R75 | Free |
| Sunday | R75 | Free |
| Standard | R75 | Free |
Following Amazon’s entry into South Africa earlier this year, Takealot launched a subscription service called TakealotMore, offering several discounts and delivery benefits.
Launched on 9 May 2024, TakealotMore is positioned to compete against Amazon Prime, which has not yet launched in South Africa.
Unlike Amazon Prime, TakealotMore offers two subscription tiers: Standard, which costs R39 per month, and Premium, which costs R99 per month.
The TakealotMore Standard subscription includes unlimited free next-day deliveries and two free same-day deliveries per month for orders over R500.
TakealotMore Premium removes the minimum order threshold for next-day, weekend, and standard deliveries.
It also offers unlimited same-day deliveries for orders over R500, and ten free heavy or bulky item deliveries per month.
Both plans also offer a varying amount of free takeaway and grocery deliveries through the Mr D app.
When previously asked about TakealotMore’s uptake, the e-commerce marketplace said it had seen an “overwhelmingly positive” response to the subscription service.
Takealot said that offering a 7-day trial has contributed to its success.
Although both plans have seen strong growth, it said the Takealot Premium has proven to be slightly more popular.
It is unclear whether Takealot plans to increase the minimum free delivery thresholds on TakealotMore.
MyBroadband asked the retailer for comment, but it did not respond by publication.
Hat-tip to Eben on the MyBroadband forum for spotting the change.
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