South African E-Commerce Giant Takealot.Com Raises $100M from Tiger Global
Ever heard of a massive amount of money flowing into a business account of a young E-commerce site? Well you are hearing now because South Africa’s takealot.com has raised this huge amount from Tiger Global Management and from CEO Tim Reid in an expansion move in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. This has earned them a name of “E-commerce Giant” around the world.
Considering the history of takealot.com it is a big success. Launched in June 2011, the site’s aim was to become the biggest shopping website in Africa and considering their progress, it seems quite possible (in fact likely) for the site. The site acquired an existing e-commerce business called Take2 by the US based Hedge Fund when it was launched. The firm sells DVD’s, Games, Music and Books to lifestyle categories like Home and Kitchen, Baby and Toddler, Health, Beauty and Sport and runs its own warehouses in Cape Town and Johannesburg plus has the advantage of running its own logistics with the purchase of a majority stake at Mr. Delivery. They are also selling the products for travelling needs, Garden and Pool solutions, camping and outdoor kits as well as luggage accessories. Their marketing strategies include special products for special occasions e.g. if you check the website now, you will find “Top 50 Father’s Day gifts” there.
Takealot.com is one of the fastest growing, most innovative and customer centric e-commerce retailers on the African continent and this new raise will help it take on the increasing e-commerce players on the continent such as Naspers Kalahari, Simplicity Online among others. It is striving to be a big name in the field of e-shopping in the entire continent. They have a smartphone app available both for iOS and Android which shows their plans to put their products in everyone’s pocket. They are offering all sorts of products so it’s like one place for all of your day to day needs and with their success rate climbing, we might see them as the only e-shopping giant of Africa someday.