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Takealot runs an online store that sells a wide range of goods to shoppers across South Africa.
Takealot is South Africa's biggest online shop, a place where people go to buy almost anything — a phone, a fridge, nappies, a book, a TV — and have it delivered to their door. It sells directly to customers and also lets other sellers list their products on its site, in the style of a marketplace.
The business works like a giant, countrywide version of a catalogue store. Customers order on the website or app, and Takealot handles the messy parts: it warehouses popular goods, picks and packs orders, arranges delivery through its own courier network, and runs the checkout and returns process. The company makes money on the margin between what it pays for goods and what customers pay, plus the cut it takes from third-party sellers who use its platform. Its biggest challenge is that online shopping is still a small slice of South African retail, and delivery is expensive across a large, spread-out country. Takealot is up against established brick-and-mortar chains and global players. Its scale — a huge customer base, warehouses, and delivery muscle — is its main weapon, because those assets are costly to copy.
Takealot is part of Naspers, the South African technology giant, which has long funded the business while it chased growth rather than quick profits. The company has spent years investing in logistics and lowering delivery costs to win over shoppers who are used to physical stores. That patience is the bet: build the country's default online store first, then let scale turn it into a steady earner.
Saved answer · last researched 15 Nov 2026