Makro slashing online order delivery times — checkout to your door in 3 hours

Makro says it will radically cut its delivery lead times for online orders in the coming weeks, thanks to integration with last-mile delivery platform WumDrop.
Makro parent company Massmart secured a 100% shareholding of WumDrop in 2021, after initially buying a 53% stake in November 2017.
That forms part of a multi-year e-commerce strategy that has seen the group scoop up several innovative companies to strengthen its capabilities in last-mile delivery.
Massmart regards ecommerce as a key pillar for its growth in South Africa in the coming years.
The retailer has now stated that WumDrop will provide Makro customers with an improved experience using its digital channels.
“Makro will be able to clip its 3-5 day delivery lead time promise to just 2 days, for deliveries within 30km from any store, as soon as the end of June,” it stated.
“In some cases, the waiting time from checkout to parcel drop could be as little as 3 hours.”
Massmart explained the shorter turnaround was possible due to WumDrop’s unique store-to-customer model.
WumDrop’s user interface connects drivers with customers, allowing interaction in real-time and helping to ensure that deliveries are completed accurately.
Simon Hartley, WumDrop founder and Massmart delivery services executive, said WumDrop’s proprietary technology allowed its drivers to take products directly from the store to the customer, eliminating the need for a warehouse.
Hartley also said it enabled drivers to easily navigate South Africa’s unique spatial environment, which can be a challenge for traditional couriers.
“As an end customer, you may never know you’re interacting with WumDrop directly, given its seamless and effective representation of the client business.”
Massmart said it would continue to roll out WumDrop across the country to serve more of its stores and other businesses.
Despite being bought by Massmart, WumDrop still offers its services to other customers, including banks and fast food outlets.
MyBroadband recently had hands-on experience with WumDrop while testing out delivery from one of Massmart’s other stores — Game.
The retailer recently launched a new website which it promised would offer a better customer experience.
We ordered on 16 May 2022 and were initially given an ETA of 23 May for delivery.
However, we were pleased to have our order delivered just two days after placing it, a similar turnaround time as leading ecommerce store Takealot.
During the process, we were sent a link to a WumDrop page explaining details and progress on our order.
That showed us that our delivery address had somehow been incorrectly captured.
Unfortunately, the link was only provided in an SMS that arrived after our order had already been delivered, which meant the courier had to call us to explain where he should drop off the package before we could take action.
Nevertheless, the enhanced tracking was a welcome change from the notoriously slow Game deliveries we experienced in the past.
The screenshot below shows the WumDrop page we were directed to for our Game order.