Massmart CEO Mitchell Slape says they are already the second-largest online retailer in South Africa and see a strong opportunity for further growth.
Massmart released its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 27 June 2021 on Friday, which showed online sales growth of 34.4%. This growth was underpinned by increased online sales at Builders (85.4%), Game (101.3%), and Makro (16.3%).
Slape said that many South Africans don’t know that Massmart’s online presence is the second largest in South Africa, behind Takealot. He said they rank second on online sales volumes and traffic to the Makro, Game, and Builders online stores.
Massmart is, however, not happy with its current online volumes. “We believe there are a lot of opportunities to continue to grow and take it even further,” Slape said. To achieve this growth, Massmart employed Sylvester John, the former Walmart North America VP for last-mile delivery, to lead its ecommerce team.
John has extensive senior-level retail experience in the United States and Africa, having worked in a wide range of business development activities.
He was also instrumental in launching and positioning Online Grocery Pickup in the US and establishing Walmart’s last-mile delivery organisation.
To bolster its online shopping in South Africa, Massmart has been working with Walmart’s technology to improve its websites. Massmart is also moving towards a mobile-first strategy. As part of this strategy, it will launch a mobile application on the Vodacom Super App.
To improve their logistics capabilities, Massmart has acquired the last-mile delivery company OneDrop. It is also in talks to buy OneCart, a fast-moving consumer goods marketplace and logistics platform.
“We continue to make progress in different areas, and our fundamental goal is that we want to meet customers where they want to be met – whether that’s in-store or online,” Slape said.
Source: News365
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