Sefalana Unveils Online Grocery Shopping
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday March 14, 2016 18:00
The initiative, which was successfully piloted last year, is done in collaboration with BotswanaPost -- for delivery purposes -- and Barclays Bank, which will ensure safety during transactions through their partners, United Kingdom-based Cyber Source. Speaking during the launch, the Group Finance Director Mohamed Osman said the Botswana market had moved into the digital era as almost everyone has access to either a computer or smartphone.
“Botswana market has become sophisticated in the way they shop,” he said. “Our customers are looking to be able to get what they want in the easiest convenient way possible. Sefalana has recognised this, hence the reason we introduced the concept of online shopping.” Osman said the introduction of the online shopping was a way of improving their new branding, which they introduced last year. According to Osman, it took Sefalana nine months to develop the idea, which was piloted in November last year.
As part of the service, customers can order groceries worth a minimum P500 online, which Sefalana will deliver for a fee of P50.00 The service is available in Gaborone for 18 months when it would then be rolled out to other parts of Botswana.
“We will not be able to roll out to all parts of the country due to logistics purposes but will ensure that we try to cover most parts of the country,” he added. “For now, we do not deliver perishables because trucks that deliver are not refrigerated.”|
Osman said the goods would be delivered within 24 hours and they will make up follow-up calls to ensure if the customer received the right products on time.
The retailer will deliver for free when more than five people in the same building order through their service.
Osman said setting up the service was a bit difficult and most of the customers during the pilot phase showed concern over security of paying online. “Most customers were worried that their cards might be cloned and some worried about execution of delivery as well as the speed of the Internet,” he said.
The retailer also has plans to develop a phone app and to introduce their loyalty program. “Our ‘A star’ house brands products which we introduced last year, are increasingly becoming a preferred alternative to the more expensive mainstream brands,” said Osman. Botswana becomes the second country to introduce such a service in Africa after South Africa.