Opening the liquor product category on the Takealot website or app would only show non-alcoholic beverages, including cold drinks and water.<\/p>\n
Those users who already had previously placed alcoholic beverages in their baskets were presented with error 404 messages when trying to check out with the items.<\/p>\n
As the alcohol absence dragged on for days without additional information, speculation was rife that the issue was likely due to Takealot’s liquor licencing rather than technical difficulties with its website.<\/p>\n
Takealot’s customer service teams on Twitter\/X repeatedly told complaining customers that the catalogue should be back up again “soon”.<\/p>\n
However, the dry spell continued over the busy New Year’s liquor shopping period.<\/p>\n
Takealot\u00a0confirmed to MyBroadband<\/strong><\/a> in early January that the problem was due to a liquor licence dispute with authorities.<\/p>\n “We are engaging with the liquor authorities to ensure that the liquor licences we have are technically appropriate for e-commerce.”<\/p>\n “Although our business model has not changed at all while operating under the licences we have, we unfortunately have been directed to not retail liquor while we reach alignment.”<\/p>\n “We will work as quickly as possible to resolve this matter as we recognise the impact this will have on some of our sellers, suppliers and customers.”<\/p>\n The Takealot “liquor” category on Friday, 19 January 2024.<\/p><\/div>\n The month-long abstinence means Takealot sellers who offered alcohol have lost a major channel for sales for a large part of the busy December 2023 shopping period and most of January 2024.<\/p>\n MyBroadband has asked the online retailer for an update on the latest progress in resolving the licence dispute, but Takealot had not responded to our questions by the time of publication.<\/p>\n As recently as Friday, 19 January 2024, the retailer’s support team on Twitter\/X again told customers<\/strong><\/a> that liquor should be available “soon”.<\/p>\n We also contacted the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition to get feedback from the National Liquor Authority (NLA).<\/p>\n While the DTIC referred our query to the NLA, it has failed to respond for well over three weeks.<\/p>\n Although there is no further detail on the nature of Takealot’s licensing issue, South African Medical Research Council director Charles Parry questioned<\/a><\/strong> if it was due to the retailer not having liquor licences in every province.<\/p>\n While licences to distribute alcohol across South Africa are dealt with at a national level by the NLA, alcohol sales licences are handled at the provincial level.<\/p>\n “Retail sales of alcohol is a provincial competency,” Parry said.<\/p>\n Parry said he also wondered if Uber Eats and Takealot group subsidiary Mr Delivery were required to have provincial liquor licenses.<\/p>\n “I think they should,” he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-19-at-13.25.18.png\")
Potential provincial problem?<\/h2>\n