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After almost two years at the helm of South Africa’s largest e-commerce business, Mamongae Mahlare is excited about the next frontier for Takealot, as it seeks to provide more opportunities for local small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) to grow and trade successfully.
Mahlare, who joined Takealot as its CEO in October 2021 from Illovo Sugar, recognises the importance of South Africa’s corporate citizens taking the lead in solving the country’s economic challenges.
She said:
Takealot is “enabling our 8 000 marketplace sellers to create an economic lifeline for themselves”. As a result, the group’s business model is supporting 33 000 jobs and has the potential to address issues such as unemployment, as well as the growth and success of local businesses.
In keeping with its goal to bring services to all South Africans no matter where they live in the country, Takealot, in the past month, held business acceleration boot camps in Johannesburg and Cape Town to empower more small black businesses with opportunities to trade on its retail platform.
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Mahlare was inspired by the hunger and appreciation the SMMEs displayed at the boot camps, and said the programme was an opportunity for the businesses to understand how they can improve their operations.
It included workshops and interactive sessions for successful businesses to share their experiences with entrepreneurs on how to run viable businesses.
The project aims to incubate only up to 30 businesses in each location, but Mahlare said they did not want to put limitations on Takealot’s ambitions.
A lot has happened since October 2021: the world is winning the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, masks have fallen, borders have opened and the business world is figuring out a new way of life.
Businesses that did not thrive during the pandemic are trying to survive the challenges brought about by disruptions in both the local and global markets.
There is also the devastating ongoing war in Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine, which continues to affect global supply chains in various key industries.
For local businesses that were adversely affected by a stagnant economy during the lockdowns, an opportunity to take their businesses to the next level through an incubation programme led by an e-commerce leader such as Takealot presents a chance to learn valuable lessons.
“If I think about the challenges and possibilities [of doing business], the reality is that we are still transitioning out of Covid, and that in itself means a lot is changing in the retail and socioeconomic landscape.
Mahlare said:
Although she acknowledged the many headwinds that challenge businesses, she said Takealot was optimally positioned to thrive in an online-only environment, as consumers are increasingly adopting virtual shopping habits.
Takealot, like other e-commerce businesses, experienced a boom during the pandemic.
“We became very helpful to South African customers by bringing significant value to their lives.”
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of online shopping stood at 1.9%, but it more than doubled during lockdown to about 4%, although Mahlare cautioned that South Africa was still behind countries that sit at an adoption rate of between 12% and 25%.
Having worked for international markets in places such as Tanzania, the US and Mozambique for multinational corporates including SABMiller, Unilever and Coca-Cola, Mahlare said the sum of her corporate experience made her an international citizen.
“As a kid from a dusty village in Sekhukhune, [she was born in Jane Furse, Limpopo], I would never have dreamt that, one day, I would go and study at Harvard [in the US, for an MBA in 2004] or end up working and living outside South Africa.
PODCAST | Connie Chiume: 45 years in showbiz and still going strong“My journey is proof of the point that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. You make all these grand plans and you don’t know what life will bring.
“One of the greatest life lessons I took out of my time at Harvard was to have bold aspirations. For me, it is about living your truth and being guided by a strong intention and what is right for you.”
