Remember the N1 bridge restaurant between Johannesburg and Pretoria? It has been a few years since it closed, and Takealot has new plans for it. The company’s Takealot Pickup Point at the New Road off-ramp in Midrand spans the N1 highway, the busiest highway in Africa, allowing motorists travelling in both directions to collect their online orders.
The renovated 1177m2 Takealot Midrand (N1 Bridge) Pickup Point will use a mix of technology and automation – including a spiral conveyor belt – to ensure shoppers are able to collect as quickly as possible. Customers can also drop off their returns at any Pickup Point instead of arranging for collection. The company expects to convert around 10 percent of its orders from the greater Johannesburg-area to collections for Takealot and Superbalist.
Kim Reid, CEO of takealot.com, said the existing pickup facility at Takealot’s Cape Town warehouse, which has been in operation for the past 8 years, sees an average of 1000 orders collected daily. “We understand that customers prefer alternatives to delivery and having specified locations for both collection and returns at a time convenient for them is an added benefit.”
Reid said the Takealot Midrand (N1 Bridge) Pickup Point is well-positioned strategically. “Currently, about 150 000 to 160 000 cars travel along the highway per day. Our Takealot Pickup Point is easy to access for motorists travelling north or south on the N1. The entire site has been revamped to allow customers to stop for petrol and groceries while collecting their orders from us.”
He said Takealot’s initial expectations are around 1 200 orders collected a day. “The Midrand Pickup Point is designed to support more than 7 000 collections per day, catering for both Takealot and Superbalist customers. It’s an advanced customised warehouse management system that can cope with large volumes of collections quickly.”
We asked Julie-Anne Walsh, Chief Marketing Officer for takealot.com, if the company expects more new customers with the new pickup point.
“We’ve certainly seen a need for our new customers to have a face-to-face, tangible experience,” said Walsh. “I think customers are still wanting to experience delivery – that moment of delight when they get their product, so I think we’ll get a fair mix of existing and new customers wanting to collect.”
“Convenience is the biggest factor to the pick-up point. If you’re travelling throughout the day, as many business people are, this is a solution for those who aren’t always available for delivery.”
Takealot customers can now select from a number of Pickup Points across the Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape.
Takealot supplied the following information:
Takealot Pickup Points facts and figures:
- At 1 177m2, the Midrand facility is the biggest Takealot Pickup Point in SA
- Initially, 1 200 orders are expected to be collected a day
- Takealot currently peaks at 4 000 orders collected per day from the Cape Town Warehouse
- The Midrand (N1 Bridge) Pickup Point is designed to support more than 7 000 collections a day for Takealot and Superbalist collectively
- The Midrand collection facility employs 20+ people
- Takealot now has over 25 Takealot Pickup Points operational nationwide, servicing both Takealot and Superbalist.
About the in-house Takealot Delivery Team:
- Both Takealot and Superbalist are serviced by the group’s own in-house delivery team called the Takealot Delivery Team
- The Takealot Delivery Team delivers over 1 400 000 orders per month
