No, it’s not Amazon yet. We know Amazon will be launching in South Africa soon, expected sometime in 2023, but now both of them and Takealot has another competitor in Mzanzi. Bob Group, an all-encompassing ecommerce platform has launched in South Africa, a joint venture between Bidorbuy and uAfrica.
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Bidorbuy and uAfrica co-founder Andy Higgins will serve as managing director of Bob Group, and has said that they are more seller-friendly than their competitors without compromising service levels. The new venture has decided to use a decentralised logistics approach, allowing services to be priced more competitively.
“Sellers can expect a more cost-effective offering based on intuitive, easy-to-use selling and fulfilment tools,” Higgins said. “Where previously we’ve focused exclusively on the marketplace, this amalgamation will allow us to provide merchant-empowering tools across all the sales channels they are active on, including their own websites and third-party channels.”
The company has decided, at least for the time being, to retain their start-up roots, and only have about 100 employees at the moment, none of which are sitting in C-suite positions. “We do not have C-suite level executives. I will be the group’s managing director, supported by an extremely competent management team,” he said.
So how does Bob Group set itself apart from a well-established player like Takealot? Well, the decentralised logistics is a big differentiator, which means they don’t manage a small handful of warehouses and storage facilities to house all the items sold on the platform. Instead, they support third-party sales and any items from their marketplace are shipped directly from the seller to the buyer.
“Our main competitors also offer first-party sales where they compete against their own marketplace sellers,” Higgins said. He added that they anticipate the initial benefits to start with sellers and then filter through to consumers. “By offering sellers better support, especially when it comes to logistics and more favourable fees, we believe these efficiencies will be passed on to shoppers,” he said.
