Bidorbuy’s largest problem

Bidorbuy is one in every of South Africa’s oldest and best-known ecommerce platforms and permits folks to purchase and promote just about something on-line.

Based in 1999 as an internet public sale web site, it has grown to develop into one in every of South Africa’s high on-line purchasing locations.

In a curious flip of occasions, its earlier power – performing as an impartial ecommerce platform permitting impartial retailers and patrons to conduct commerce – is now posing a problem for the corporate.

Bidorbuy’s enterprise mannequin means its third-party sellers are accountable to ship the merchandise to purchasers.

This decentralised logistics mannequin is enticing to Bidorbuy because it strikes the heavy lifting – packing and transport merchandise – to the retailers.

The draw back, nevertheless, is that patrons usually are not sure when, and even when, they are going to obtain the merchandise they’ve bought.

Web shoppers depend on the Bidorbuy sellers to package deal and ship the merchandise they bought shortly and supply a superb total expertise. This doesn’t at all times occur.

Takealot, compared, has invested closely in constructing one of the best ecommerce logistics community in South Africa.

This funding included buying Mr Supply in 2014 to offer Takealot management over its personal logistics community by way of the Takealot Supply Group division – previously Mr D Courier.

Takealot has centralised its market logistics, which suggests customers who buy a product by way of its platform obtain a constant expertise, impartial of the vendor.

Whether or not you buy merchandise from Takealot or one in every of their service provider companions, the packing and transport course of is similar.

This centralised logistics mannequin has helped Takealot to create a trusted expertise for internet buyers and thru this dominate the native on-line purchasing market.

Bidorbuy case research

A latest order from one in every of MyBroadband’s employees members illustrates the problem that Bidorbuy faces.

She bought merchandise from a Bidorbuy vendor on 21 December, and the vendor accepted the order the following day.

Since shopping for the product there was no communication from the vendor, and makes an attempt to contact him had been unsuccessful.

Two weeks after the order was positioned, she contacted Bidorbuy to ask if there was an issue with the supply.

Bidorbuy was very useful and knowledgeable her that for the reason that product was bought from a verified vendor there was purchaser safety of as much as R5,000.

Additionally they escalated the problem, which ought to end result within the order being processed and despatched to her inside the subsequent three days.

Bidorbuy’s ecommerce platform works properly and protects patrons, however the decentralised logistics mannequin means folks can nonetheless have a poor expertise.

Except Bidorbuy adapts a centralised logistics mannequin for its market, it won’t be able to regulate the complete buyer expertise.

The good thing about this open enterprise mannequin, which is akin to a classifieds web site, is that folks can discover distinctive new and second-hand merchandise which aren’t obtainable on websites like Takealot.

Whether or not this might be sufficient to develop in a world the place South Africans are used to wonderful service ranges from Takealot stays to be seen.