Takealot has a secret weapon

Takealot’s focus on its logistics business is the secret weapon that sets its services apart from other players in South Africa’s highly competitive eCommerce market.

Takealot’s recent results, as reported in Naspers’ 2025 financial year results, indicate that the company is on track to become profitable in the 2026 financial year.

The Takealot Group encompasses its online eCommerce platform, Takealot.com, and on-demand delivery service, Mr D.

Takealot’s growth in the 2025 financial year was driven by enhanced customer offerings and the TakealotMore subscription service, which launched in May 2024.

The Takealot group’s revenue grew by 15% in rand terms to reach $823 million (R14.88 billion), with gross merchandise value increasing by 13% year-on-year.

This is an impressive feat considering how competitive South Africa’s eCommerce industry has become in recent years.

International entrants, such as Amazon, Shein, and Temu, and local competition from platforms like Bash, have made the space significantly more competitive than when Takealot launched in 2011.

Despite its own financial difficulties and those of the broader market, Takealot has continued to hold its own in South Africa’s eCommerce market.

Part of the reason for this is its continued focus on optimising its ecosystem and using this to its advantage.

Naspers described Takealot’s unique ecosystem as a strong competitive advantage for the eCommerce giant. 

It explained that the core Takealot.com business is complemented by Mr D’s on-demand offerings, driven primarily through the mechanism of the TakealotMore subscription programme. 

Therefore, growth in Takealot.com and Mr D means higher demand on these platforms, creating value for more sellers, suppliers and restaurants.

This leads to greater volumes through Takealot Fulfilment Solutions, both from organic growth on the platforms and third-party logistics customers.

This, in turn, reduces the company’s logistics costs and drives revenue growth, improving economics for all ecosystem participants and supporting further growth.

The diagram below, taken from Naspers’ most recent results, shows how all the parts of Takealot’s ecosystem fit together.

Takealot’s backbone

Key to Takealot’s advantageous ecosystem is its focus on logistics, a business it has recently expanded.

In the 2025 financial year, Takealot capitalised on its logistics capabilities by forming a new logistics business unit, Takealot Fulfilment Solutions, which leverages its existing assets and scale. 

The company acquired M24 Logistics, a third-party warehouse and distribution business, from Media24 in September 2024 to complement its envisioned fulfilment solutions. 

By extending its logistics offerings, Naspers explained that Takealot positions itself as a leading full-service eCommerce ecosystem in South Africa.

As with all successful eCommerce companies, strong logistics form the backbone of Takealot’s offerings, affecting every aspect of the business.

Managing director of Bob Group and eCommerce expert Andy Higgins told Daily Investor that Takealot’s expansion of its logistics business unit is an innovative and strategic move. 

“By consolidating and expanding fulfilment capabilities, which can potentially provide services beyond the Takealot Group, Takealot can drive the scale needed to optimise logistics efficiency,” he said. 

“In this space, scale is everything, and building out a broader fulfilment network positions them to unlock greater economies of scale, which in turn can lead to better service levels and cost competitiveness.”

Higgins previously explained that Takealot’s advantage over international eCommerce players, such as Amazon, lies in its established and reliable local infrastructure.

He told Daily Investor that many competitors still rely on third-party logistics providers. While this is easier to implement, it limits scalability and service control. 

“Owning more of the logistics chain allows for better customer experience and operational efficiency,” he explained. 

This is especially true for Takealot, where its third-party seller model results in pricing that is very similar to that of a competitor like Amazon. Therefore, it needs to compete with these competitors on playing fields other than price.

This is also true for low-cost competitors like Shein and Temu, which have very low pricing. Takealot cannot profitably compete with these prices, forcing it to rely on other strengths, such as customer experience, which requires a robust logistics network.

Higgins pointed out that it’s not inconceivable that international players could follow Takealot’s lead by building or acquiring local logistics capability in time.

However, he does not believe South Africa will see an immediate, dramatic shift in the market. 

“It is clear that players like Amazon are investing aggressively in customer acquisition, including free shipping promotions, in anticipation of significant eCommerce growth in South Africa,” he said. 

“While this strategy may gain market share in the short term, it is unlikely to be sustainable at scale in the long run without a strong logistics backbone.”