Takealot.com was officially launched in June 2011, following the successful acquisition of an
existing ecommerce business called Take2 by the US‐based investment firm, Tiger Global
Management and Kim Reid in October 2010. Today, takealot.com isthe leading ecommerce retailer
in South Africa and one of the largest, most innovative ecommerce retailers on the African
continent. The business was initiated with a simple vision in mind: To be the largest, simplest, most
customer‐centric online shopping destination in Africa. It has rapidly evolved since inception,
opening and expanding warehouses in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, while expanding
department selection to over 21 departments across Electronics, Lifestyle, Media & Gaming and
Fashion.
For takealot.com, 2014 was a truly pivotal year with the announcement of a $100m investment
from Tiger Global. This was quickly followed by the purchase of Mr Delivery – which gave the
business ownership over its own logistics network through the Takealot Delivery Team division
(formerly Mr D Courier) and its own app‐based on‐demand food delivery service through the MR D
Food division. The same year saw the successful acquisition of Superbalist.com, a curated design
and fashion website, and culminated in the announcement that Naspers‐owned Kalahari.com
would be merging businesses with takealot.com – building the premier online shopping destination
in Africa. The merge was successfully completed on 1 May 2015 when all Kalahari customer
accounts were successfully transferred to takealot.com.
Beginning in early 2018, Naspers increased its investment in takealot.com to 96%. In October 2018,
Superbalist.com and Spree (also part of the Naspers family) merged to provide customers with the
latest on‐trend local and international fashion
Now, takealot.com is South Africa’s largest, most innovative ecommerce retailer, with over 2000
employees. At the core of everything we do is our customer. We are passionate about providing
great customer experiences, beginning with the moment you land on our site or app, until the
product you order is delivered safely into your hands.
Q3.4 A loyal Takealot customer attempts to purchase a new laptop on the Takealot
website but when he wants to pay for the item, the website states that the specific
laptop is out of stock. Identify and discuss the type of failure evident in the
scenario.