Last year during the build up to the Black Friday and Christmas rush season we had our various accounts frozen and suspended for missing the delivery time slots. The time slots they control and with each consignment order there is always 2 delivery points and you have to queue for both meaning that you need two separate trucks.
We tried to get around the hurdles and obstacles thrown at us but once you are in one queue and there are 4-6 hour delays then you are never going to achieve the second delivery which will result in suspension.
The only solution is to pay for the premium transport under the control of Takealot in this case as they guarantee you missing no deadlines and the delivery slot issue disappears as you do not need it anymore. I see this as forcing suppliers to use their transport and the booking slots are designed so you fail.
having suspended accounts is a major problem for any business and to give you an example turnover is reduced by 75% even when you have back up accounts. They do not openly tell you to use their transport system but it is shown as a foolproof solution to avoid missed time slots. The problem is the costs are roughly 20% more and you don't really have much choice, but to pay the extra.
Our client who pays our budgets realises this is a no win situation and has agreed to pay the extras. We tried our best to keep the costs down and were winning until the busy season hit resulting in massive time delays making hitting the second delivery time slot impossible. The orders are not big enough to justify a 2nd truck sitting for 6 hours and I feel it is kind of a crooked way of making companies buy into their delivery system.
Amazon are still very small with Takealot still the dominant local sales platform. Only when Amazon have eaten into the market share will things change, but for now the bully boy tactics are clear and obvious. treating your customers with such obvious disdain will come back to haunt them and they need to learn the hard way. I give them 18 months maximum before they will be begging for suppliers to stick with them.
The competitor online sales platforms of which there are 4 others including Amazon have a far simpler delivery offering which works and is far cheaper. It is amazing to think only Takealot has created the time slot delays in order to benefit their profitability by penalizing companies due to their own short comings in not receiving stock in a timely manner. The delivery hold ups at receiving are not the customers problem yet are the ones who are paying a heavier price for their failures.
We are a top 5 supplier so you can imagine how a smaller supplier is being treated. They will not be able to afford the in house delivery services and will have to negotiate other terms or options. This is what happens when a company has such dominance in the market place and the only way things will change is the dominance is eroded away through competition.