ON-DEMAND ECONOMY BOOMS AS CONSUMERS EXPECT EVEN FASTER DELIVERY THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT COVID-19 EXPEDITED THE RISE IN ECOMMERCE AND LEAD TO THE NOW-NEAR INSTITUTION OF THE HOME ECONOMY. AND WHILE THE PANDEMIC COMES UNDER CONTROL WITH AN ALMOST COMPLETE RELAXATION OF RESTRICTIONS, THE ON-DEMAND DELIVERY TREND IS FIRMLY FIXED INTO CONSUMERS’ LIVES, SO MUCH SO THAT BIG AND SMALL BUSINESSES NEED TO ADAPT THEIR LAST-MILE LOGISTICS SYSTEMS TO CATER FOR SOUTH AFRICANS’ INCREASING APPETITE FOR AT-HOME OR WORK DELIVERIES.
T
o underline this point, in 2021
and unsatisfactory delivery options are the
South Africa’s eCommerce mar-
two primary contributors to a brand losing
ket was valued at USD 4.5 billion,
a sale at the virtual check-out. As such it is
and digital platforms have been widely
essential that businesses get that last-mile
adopted by customers across various sec-
experience right, and that means upping
tors including health, food and retail.
their ante in the type of intelligent logistics
So aggressive is this uptake that it is esti-
solution software they use.
mated that by 2027 the local eCommerce
Fortunately, there is significant develop-
market will reach a value of USD 7,9 billion.
ment happening in this space, with the
That’s close to double where it stands
local Picup among the leaders in delivery
now, within just six years. It’s not unrealistic either given the market increased in size by 100% in the past two years alone.
WWW.PICUP.IO 27
VOL 22
ISSUE 2
software technology. With digitisation in the sector happening at a rapid pace, and certainly likely to come into being within
But all this growth comes with increased
the next two years, players like Picup are
customer expectation: Research by the
enhancing their experiences so that end-
South African Digital Customer Experience
customers get their goods quicker and
Report 2021 shows that high shipping costs
more affordably.
CEO GLOBAL MAGAZINE.COM
