As South Africa heads into the end-of-year shopping rush, the festive season offers more than a temporary revenue bump. Instead, December's red and green is fast becoming the time when digital commerce habits solidify.
Takealot's 2025 performance specifically shows how a well-executed customer journey and fulfilment strategy, rooted in omnichannel principles, can turn festive season demand into sustained customer loyalty.
While Takealot isn't a traditional omnichannel retailer with physical stores, its operations demonstrate how seamless experiences across browsing, ordering, delivery and returns now function as a digital equivalent of omnichannel retail. This shift reflects a broader transformation in how South Africans engage with retail.
E-Commence Is Now Mainstream
According to a 2025 World Wide Worx report, South Africa's online retail sector is set to surpass R130-billion this year, roughly 10% of total retail sales.
Even more striking: over half of internet users aged 16 and older now shop online weekly. That means platforms like Takealot are no longer optional, but actively form part of people's regular shopping habits.
Takealot's 2025 Numbers Speak Volumes Already
In its FY26 half-year results, Takealot Group announced a 23% year-on-year revenue increase and a dramatic 68% reduction in EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Amortisation) losses — clear signs of moving toward sustainable profitability.
Its quick-commerce arm, Mr D, grew in orders, GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) and revenue, while its core marketplace and fulfilment operations expanded.
This broad-based growth suggests that Takealot hasn't simply benefited from festive demand, but is building the operational backbone and logistical scalability that underpin modern omnichannel fulfilment.
Festive Shopping Is Reshaping Behaviour and Expectations
Takealot's internal 2025 data showed a surge in early season browsing, wishlisting and price-tracking behaviour. This indicates that consumers are planning weeks ahead, turning a seasonal spike into extended engagement — a trend also seen in traditional omnichannel environments where discovery begins long before purchase.
At the same time, operational excellence proved critical: expanded warehousing and strengthened last-mile delivery enabled Takealot to maintain fast, predictable delivery windows, even during peak weeks. This combination of behavioural insight and fulfilment reliability transformed customer experience into a core marketing advantage.
What Does This Mean For Marketers?
The 2025 festive season demonstrates that South African shoppers expect seamless, end-to-end experiences: early engagement, transparent order tracking and reliable delivery.
Takealot's performance shows that while it operates primarily online, its approach embodies key omnichannel principles: integrated systems, frictionless journeys and fulfilment readiness at scale.
For marketers and business owners, the festive spike is more than a temporary surge; it's a chance to convert loyalty and set a new benchmark for customer experience in South Africa's evolving retail landscape.
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*Image courtesy of Canva and Linkon
**Information sourced from Business Day, Times LIVE, Sunday Independent and Tech Africa News