Retrenchments at one of South Africa’s biggest online stores

Online fashion retailer Superbalist has informed employees that it plans to cut a large percentage of its staff.

BusinessTech received information from people close to Superbalist that the online store plans to retrench around 28% of its workforce.

The retrenchments affect most departments, including engineering, product management, finance, design, buying, and support.

“75 roles will be retrenched, which includes shutting down the entire vertical design centre of 45 people,” one source said.

The people linked to Superbalist said the company plans to serve notices by 2 December 2024, right after the annual Black Friday sales.

Another source told BusinessTech that Superbalist has also started aggressive markdowns of certain items in their warehouse.

These markdowns range from Mango to their private labels as Superbalist tries to clear terminal stock.

The latest round of retrenchments followed the sale of Superbalist to a group of private equity investors led by Blank Canvas Capital.

On 1 September 2024, the Takealot Group, which used to own Superbalist, sold the online store to private equity investors.

“This strategic acquisition will support Superbalist’s ongoing growth, allowing the Takealot Group to dedicate its efforts to further expanding Takealot and Mr D,” it said.

Takealot said Superbalist services will continue to operate without interruption throughout the transition period.

Takealot will also continue to provide warehousing and logistics services to Superbalist through a multi-year service agreement.

“The Takealot Group remains committed to providing exceptional value and service to our customers,” it said.

This was not the first round of retrenchments Superbalist employees faced. It also cut staff in August 2023 when it was still part of the Takealot Group.

At the time, Superbalist said it needed to reevaluate its structures to ensure that the business operates effectively in this current economic environment.

“Like many other businesses, we are faced with the reality that growth post-Covid has not reached the levels that had been forecast,” it said.

BusinessTech tried to contact Superbalist for comments, but the contact form on its website did not allow it.

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