Internet auction and online marketplace bidorbuy teams up with Pargo to optimise the consumer experience for November’s great sale day and beyond
Cape Town, – By all accounts, Black Friday is expected to return to near pre-pandemic levels this year.
With South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccination programme now well on track and even limited attendance at sporting events permitted, the fear that has gripped the country’s citizens since March 2020 is rapidly receding.
In this renewed spirit of hope, South Africans will be champing at the bit to cash in on Black Friday deals, particularly with Christmas just around the corner.
The boom in online retail sales, which grew by 60% on Black Friday 2020 despite the tough economic climate, is set to continue even with physical stores expected to welcome throngs of customers.
The great benefit of online shopping is convenience, yet such is the spike in orders on big shopping days that e-tailers can find themselves under huge pressure to keep up with demand.
One of the issues they experience is that large numbers of orders can create a backlog if door deliveries are not made on time. Naturally, this will upset customers and ultimately erode trust in sellers.
South African internet auction and online marketplace bidorbuy is determined to ensure convenient and on-time delivery on Black Friday and beyond.
For this reason it has partnered with Pargo, a smart last-mile logistics service for e-tailers, banks, telecommunications operators and others that offers what is termed Click & Collect.
Click & Collect is an alternative delivery method whereby online shopping is delivered to the customer’s choice of pickup point instead of a door delivery address. By the estimates of PricewaterhouseCoopers , the model generated a staggering £750-million (R15-billion) in sales during the UK’s Black Friday in 2020.
Today, there are more than 3,000 Pargo Pickup Points at popular retail chains like Clicks, FreshStop at Caltex, Lewis stores and others nationwide, from major cities and business districts to rural areas and townships.
“Click & Collect allows for consolidated deliveries, which means couriers can do fewer stops on their delivery route, speeding up their delivery times. This results in faster and less costly deliveries,” explains Pargo CEO Lars Veul.
Click & Collect meets another need.
Many South Africans live in areas where they experience difficulty or expense in getting their orders delivered to their homes. On days like Black Friday, they have no choice but to visit physical stores and compete with hordes of shoppers to “snag a deal”.
“Click & Collect gives them an alternative,” Veul says.
“Through Click & Collect they can secure their Black Friday deals and pick up their shopping at a more convenient time.”
The value to sellers is also immense, especially since Click & Collect allows them to broaden their market reach through Pargo’s Pickup Points. This gives customers normally precluded from the convenience of online shopping and those who lead busy lifestyles access to the wealth of goods online.
Another huge advantage is that Click & Collect produces about 68% fewer carbon emissions than home delivery, a study by Carbon Calculated and Pargo shows.
This is because the delivery method normally only requires a single delivery attempt, rather than repeated attempts in cases where customers are not home to receive couriers. The ability to consolidate deliveries also further reduces the carbon footprint of Click & Collect.
Bidorbuy believes the Click & Collect service has become “absolutely necessary”.
“We’ve partnered with Pargo to give our sellers the ability to use Click & Collect delivery for greater market reach,” says bidorbuy CEO Craig Lubbe.
“Activating Pargo gives sellers the ability to fulfil orders to their customer’s choice of Pargo Pickup Points.”
As an extra incentive ahead of Black Friday, Pargo is offering sellers a free delivery day on 27 October so they can trial the service and prepare for what Lubbe describes as the “retail storm”.
Furthermore, bidorbuy is extending Black Friday, traditionally a one-day event, to the entire month of November.
“We believe this can make the experience more enjoyable, and we are able to offer more of our deals to our
buyers,” Lubbe says.
Signing up for Pargo’s Click & Collect offering could not be easier, Veul says.
“When it comes to sellers, all they need to do is add Pargo as a shipping method by clicking on shipping charges under seller tools. After this step, they only need to agree to Pargo terms and conditions and fill in their details.”
“Buyers can then choose Pargo Click & Collect at checkout. This delivery option allows them to choose their nearest pickup point from over 3,000 Pargo Pickup Points as their delivery address. Once delivered, buyers can collect their order at the pickup point when it suits them best.”
