Mr D is accelerating its strategy to expand its category offerings, as it looks to transform into an on-demand marketplace for a variety of goods.
Formerly known as Mr D Food, the Takealot Group-owned food delivery app, which competes with Uber Eats and Bolt Food, says it has witnessed significant growth over the past few years, and is ready to add new verticals to its category offerings.
Mr D was bought by the group in 2014 from South African food delivery business Mr Delivery.
Takealot Group CEO Mamongae Mahlare told ITWeb that the delivery service − which has over 10 000 restaurants and convenience store partners listed on its mobile and web platform − is now available across every suburb in SA and is preparing to diversify its offerings.
“Mr D is an exciting business model and we are quite excited about the on-demand element we are adding. We started off as a platform catering just for takeaway food.
“We are also diversifying into pet food in a bigger way, and then there will be other partnerships that we are bringing onto the platform to increase our customers’ on-demand items and services.
“We are going the marketplace route, but in a different way that focuses specifically on on-demand items, like schedule zero medication and things that customers run out of, and may need to replace immediately, like detergent, etc.”
While Mahlare was reluctant to mention brand names in the pipeline to be listed on the platform, she noted the online delivery service is on the verge of signing interesting partnership deals, in addition to its existing association with retail giant Pick n Pay.
Last May, Pick n Pay concluded a commercial services agreement with the Takealot Group, which saw the launch of a dedicated Pick n Pay on-demand food, grocery and liquor offering on the Mr D app.
At the time, the app had over 2.5 million active customers, and has seen significant customer growth since the collaboration, according to Mahlare.
In its latest report, released last week, Pick n Pay noted it has seen a surge in its online sales, propelled by its tie-up with Mr D .
“Mr D has had quite a significant growth from during the time of COVID-19, and we expect to have double-digit growth within the coming year.
“The Mr D-Pick n Pay partnership has been going well, we still have no mark-up on the Pick n Pay items sold on the platform, and consumers have been very positive in responding to this proposition because they can get both groceries and takeaways on the same platform, and it gets delivered to them within 50 minutes,” said Mahlare.
The partnership has been taken a step further, to allow Takealot.com’s customers to order and collect their items from their nearest Pick n Pay store, and choose from 250 Pick n Pay outlets nationwide.
Mr D’s next priority is garnering more customers and ensuring the app is user-friendly, as the services and categories continue growing on the platform, she added.
“Once people shop for the first time online, they really realise the massive benefits of doing so, in convenience and saving time through the technologies that identify their unique preferences.”
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