Takealot Group, which includes South Africa’s biggest e-retailer, Takealot.com, increased revenue by 27% in the past year, and remained near breakeven during the period, its parent, Naspers, said on Monday.

In the year ended 31 March, Takealot Group, whose other assets include Mr D Food and Superbalist, reported a 34% improvement in gross merchandise value, or GMV – the total value of merchandise sold – and turned in a trading loss of US$7-million, in line with last year’s loss and representing a small 1% trading loss margin.

Superbalist and Mr D Food grew revenues by 43% and 62% respectively.

“Mr D benefited from increasing awareness of online food delivery, a slower recovery of the restaurant market, and shifting consumer demand online. The business grew both orders and GMV by 51% and improved overall profitability,” Naspers said.

Takealot.com’s third-party marketplace sales continued to outpace first-party sales and accounted for 52% of total GMV, Naspers said. Takealot.com delivered revenue growth of 20% for the year.

Naspers owns 100% of Takealot Group, or 96% on a fully diluted basis.

Takealot could face a meaningful challenger from next year. Last week, it emerged that US online retail giant Amazon.com plans to launch online shopping services in South Africa – and several other countries – in early 2023, potentially posing a big challenge to Takealot.

That’s according to the US publication Business Insider, which cited leaked internal Amazon documents to back up its report.

Project Fela

The five markets that Amazon will reportedly expand to over the next year are South Africa, Nigeria, Belgium, Chile and Colombia.

The South African launch, reportedly codenamed Project Fela (a codename it shares with Nigeria), is expected in February 2023, Business Insider said, citing an internal timeline. The Nigeria launch is reportedly planned for April 2023.

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