Takealot is the leading e-commerce company in South Africa. Even with the arrival of Amazon and competition from Makro, Takealot is still the best place for local sellers.
With over 10 500 active sellers, Takealot is the go-to platform for entrepreneurs who want to sell online. Selling on Takealot has several benefits. It can help you reach a wide range of customers and can help grow your business.
On the Takealot platform, sellers get access to solutions to help manage stock, logistics support and online payment support. This ensures that your customers experience a smooth buying experience.
In this article, we will take you through the steps of how to become a seller on Takealot.
Apply to Sell on Takealot
As with many things, the first step is to apply. You can apply online by filling in the application form. On the application form, you will be required to provide essential information such as:
- Your first and last name.
- E-mail address and mobile number.
- Your company’s name.
- Which category do you fit in.
- Link to your products or catalogue (if you have a website).
- Your VAT registration status.
- Monthly revenue.
- The details of the business owner.
- A detailed description of your business and your products.
Once you have filled in the application form, it will be sent to the Takealot team. The team will contact you within 10 business days for further steps.
Do you Need to be a Registered Business to Sell on Takealot?
No, since 2020, Takealot has allowed for individuals to sell on its platform. You need to provide your ID and bank account to be considered for approval.
Registration and Onboarding
If your application is approved, you will begin the onboarding process. First, you must complete your Takealot seller account by supplying all the required information and paperwork. This will also be when you complete your profile on the seller portal.
During onboarding, you will learn about the seller processes on Takealot. This is where you will get the ins and outs of the Takealot marketplace. You will need to ensure that your product is part of Takealot’s product catalogue.
When you enter your product number on Takealot, it will either be part of existing products, so the catalogue is available. If you have homemade products, you will need to compile the product information, descriptions and images to submit to Takealot for the product listing to be created.
Manually listing your products can be time-consuming, but it is worth the effort. Once you have listed the products, it will take between one day to two weeks for approval. If your listing is rejected, you will have to fix the errors and resubmit.
Once you have been approved, you can make your products live and start selling on the Takealot marketplace.
Seller Fees
Like all marketplaces, there are monthly subscription fees involved. Takealot charges a monthly fee of R400 per seller. You can choose to cancel your account anytime. Additional fees are success fees, fulfilment fees and storage fees.
Success fees cover transactional costs, customer support and platform support. Success fees are calculated as a % of the VAT-inclusive selling price per item sold. This fee will be credited for returned items. Takealot has a detailed description of success fees per category.
Fulfilment fees are the cost for each item shipped from a Takealot warehouse. Fees are calculated by size and weight. Weight is measured as light (7kg or less), heavy (7kg-25kg), heavy plus (25kg – 40kg), and very heavy (40kg – 70kg).
Storage fees are only applicable if you store your products at a Takealot warehouse. Products with a stock cover of 35 days, or less get free storage at any Takealot distribution centre. You can also opt to sell on lead time and only deliver the number of products ordered to avoid being charged.
To calculate how much you might be charged, the formula is:
Stock Cover = (total stock/sales unit in the last 30 days) x 30.
For a more detailed explanation of fees, look at the Takealot product pricing booklet.
Listing on the Takealot marketplace is a detailed but straightforward process. Once you have been approved, you can list your products and begin selling. Takealot has also provided some tools for sellers to be able to use the platform easily.
Tools on the Takealot Marketplace
E-commerce platforms are great for sellers because of the tools available. On Takealot there are solutions for managing your stock, pricing, product selection and payment processing.
Takealot partners with payment processors Ozow and PayFast. The payment platforms work with all major banks in South Africa and allow you to pay via instant EFT.
The company also uses artificial intelligence (AI) for a chatbot. The chatbot helps Takealot communicate directly with customers. This means that your customers are never left unattended.
The tools on the Takealot marketplace are essential to running your e-commerce business. By selling on the Takealot marketplace, you gain access to tools, and a wider audience reach and can grow your business quickly.
If you are ready to be part of the e-commerce sector, register today! And become a seller on the Takealot marketplace.
