Takealot Group is not treating Amazon’s arrival in South Africa as a menace to be survived a lot as a contest simply getting beneath method.
“We’ve studied sufficient international eventualities to grasp that with the launch of [Amazon Prime], it’s not the top of the sport, it’s the beginning of the sport,” Takealot Group CEO Frederik Zietsman instructed journalists on Tuesday at an occasion in Johannesburg.
Citing abroad native champions comparable to Mercado Libre in South America, Zietsman expressed confidence in Takealot’s place towards rivals together with Shein, Temu and now Amazon. “We’re a neighborhood participant, we perceive the market higher. We have now higher knowledge and extra agility,” he stated. “I discover a whole lot of optimism in our skill to compete.”
A day after mother or father firm Naspers printed its annual outcomes, Zietsman used the media occasion to lean on the argument that being South African is the e-commerce group’s sharpest weapon. The group had reached its first full-year revenue in 15 years of buying and selling, a milestone he framed as larger than the enterprise itself. “It is a South African success story,” he stated, returning repeatedly to the concept the group’s fortunes are sure up with the nation’s.
‘We welcome competitors’
The stress has come from a number of instructions directly. Chinese language gamers Shein and Temu have flooded the native market with low-priced items, whereas Amazon, which opened its South African retailer in Might 2024, launched its Prime subscription domestically on 3 June and ran its first South African Prime Day occasion final week.
Requested in regards to the trio, Zietsman forged the inflow as validation relatively than hazard. “During the last 18, possibly 24 months, we’ve seen an enormous surge of competitors, whether or not it’s offshore or onshore,” he stated. He argued that incumbents in comparable markets had held the majority of their share as rivals arrived, and that Takealot had given up solely slightly floor.
Learn: Amazon Prime launched in South Africa
A rising market, he stated, fits the incumbent. “We’re very glad for the market to develop as a result of meaning extra South Africans are buying on-line, and the very fact is as we speak nearly all of South Africans haven’t.” On Amazon particularly: “We welcome competitors. It makes us sharp.”
Group income rose 18% to R17.7-billion, crossing the US$1-billion mark. Gross merchandise worth (GMV), the entire worth of products bought throughout the platforms, climbed greater than 14%. The group swung to a file adjusted working revenue (adjusted Ebit) of R171-million from a R213.8-million loss the yr earlier than, a turnaround of about R385-million, whereas adjusted Ebitda (earnings earlier than curiosity, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose 60%.
“The headline is easy and historic: that is the ecosystem working, that is the ecosystem profitable,” chief monetary officer Tessa Ackermann stated. She was candid about how skinny margins stay. “No one desires a 1% working margin, we have to enhance that,” she stated, however insisted the revenue was sturdy as a result of it got here from working money relatively than accounting positive aspects. “This isn’t just a few one-off foreign exchange accounting adjustment that pulled these income. That is actual, actual money.”
Takealot.com, nonetheless the “mothership”, remained the most important contributor, with income up 17%, gross merchandising worth up 15% and orders up 18%. Ackermann stated the platform swung to an adjusted R85-million revenue from a R297-million loss, helped by retail media income up 37%, a 1.5% rise in common margin, price self-discipline and a deal with worthwhile orders. The group processed greater than 60 million orders over the yr, which Zietsman stated got here with out denting service, with the client internet promoter rating at 72.
The ecosystem pitch
The strategic core was what Zietsman known as the biggest e-commerce ecosystem in Africa, spanning 6.2 million energetic clients, the Takealot.com retail platform, the Mr D supply app and the TakealotMore subscription programme.
Administration leaned on TakealotMore as a direct counter to Prime, stressing that at R39 or R99/month it spans a number of retailers. “That is the one multi-retailer subscription programme within the nation,” Zietsman stated. “Every other one packing containers you into, okay, you need to cope with me.” Past Takealot.com and Mr D Meals, it spans retailers together with Decide n Pay, Wellness Warehouse, Absolute Pets and Toy Kingdom. The group stated energetic membership grew 74% yr on yr, lifting member GMV 193.5%, and that the programme saved clients almost R700-million and “already carries 1 / 4 of every thing we promote”.
Mr D, recast from a meals app right into a “hyperlocal velocity powerhouse”, grew income 11.5% and GMV 12.6% and remained worthwhile, with grocery volumes surging 38% on a Decide n Pay tie-up and 60-minute “TakealotNow” deliveries.
Each executives singled out Takealot Fulfilment Options (TFS), the logistics arm Naspers plans to scale as a standalone income stream in FY2027. Its income grew 93.5%, pushed by distribution work for retailers comparable to Superbalist and the Ares Group, and Ackermann known as it “the one to look at”. The group stated TFS now handles fulfilment for top-tier JSE-listed retailers.
For all of the optimism on stage, Naspers has stayed guarded, nevertheless. Even after the stronger yr, its board declined to reverse the R5.9-billion impairment booked towards the enterprise in 2024, saying the advance “doesn’t but justify” it. In valuing the enterprise, Naspers utilized low cost charges of between 17% and 21%, on the increased finish of its vary, reflecting forecast uncertainty.
Learn: Earnings arrive at Takealot, however Naspers stays cautious
Zietsman is betting the market solely grows from right here. “That is going to double within the subsequent 5 years,” he stated, citing examples in India, South America and Turkey. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
