[Transcript] #27: Takealot - How the South African online retailer became one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Africa

Recorded April 18, 2021

Hello! Bankole here,

Sharing the transcript for our Takealot episode below.

Takealot is (was?) the bright light in African e-commerce. They are in South Africa, a country with good e-commerce fundamentals - a high penetration of digital payments and financial inclusion, and a functioning urban logistics network. They are backed by Naspers, Africa’s largest public company. Naspers also divested from Konga, the Nigerian retailer, increasing its stake in Takelot to 96% and anointing the company as the sole e-commerce arrow in its quiver. Takealot is resilient: They have been around for over 20 years and have outlived multiple e-commerce hype cycles, including the cycle that sent Jumia to the moon and now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

There’s a new set of challenges in town though. Local competitors are growing twice as fast. Amazon has launched its e-commerce storefront in South Africa, and MassMart (a Walmart portco) is aggressively growing it’s omnichannel services. As Takealot struggles to compete, it’s losses have ballooned. One wonders how much longer their loss-making will be tolerated, with Naspers having problems of its own.

What does this all mean for e-commerce? Do Africans want to buy stuff online?

You can listen to the podcast here. Paid subscribers can view the transcript below.

Best wishes for the new year,

Bankole.

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Transcript starts here:

[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Welcome to Afrobility, a conversation about African business and technology. Today, we're going to talk about Takealot, the largest e-commerce platform in South Africa, and one of the largest across Africa. We'll start by giving some context of e-commerce in South Africa. We'll talk about Takealot's founding and early history.

[00:00:19] Olumide Ogunsanwo: We'll also discuss Naspers’ 2018 acquisition of Takealot. And then we'll end by discussing Takealot's business strategy and our overall thoughts. and its future outlook. This episode was recorded on April 18, 2021. Bankolinho, what's up, man? Bankolinho,

[00:00:34] Bankole Makanju: I'll take that one. How are you doing,

[00:00:35] Olumide Ogunsanwo: man? That's a very Champions League friendly one.

[00:00:39] Bankole Makanju: take it, man. I'll take it. Chelsea's in the Champions League semifinal. Yeah. Life is good. Chelsea's play was amazing. I feel great. I thought

[00:00:47] Olumide Ogunsanwo: about you. That's what I'm doing. I thought about you during the games. I

[00:00:49] Bankole Makanju: appreciate that. I appreciate that, bro. How are you doing?

[00:00:52] Olumide Ogunsanwo: I'm doing fine. I feel like Yeah, 2021, April, things are, things are looking good.

[00:00:58] Olumide Ogunsanwo: I feel solid. It's been a good week. One of my friends had their birthday this week. And I feel relaxed. I'm excited to talk about this episode and it's been a good week. So win, win. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:07] Bankole Makanju: Win, win. Chelsea does that a lot. I don't know if you know that. Winning.

[00:01:12] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Okay. Yeah. I can't wait. Info at Afrobility.

[00:01:15] Olumide Ogunsanwo: com. Send us any gossip you have about transfers or about cups and football clubs. Okay. So what are we doing today? What are we talking about? Takealot. Takealot. Takealot. Let's talk about Takealot. Yes. We're talking about Takealot. I'm excited to talk about it. I think for a bunch of different reasons, first of all, e-commerce is one of those areas that has a lot of potential.

[00:01:35] Olumide Ogunsanwo: I saw a stat that only one to 2 percent of South Africa's retail is online. So a lot of potential for growth. And then I just think it's an interesting story. And it'll be fun to talk about the biggest player in the whole of South Africa and one of the biggest across Africa, depending on how you size it.