Takealot, a South African e-commerce website, says it is growing at 100%, and expects to continue on that growth path for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur major competitor is Kalahari.com.\u00a0 We anticipate that we will be larger than them within the next 12 months,” said Kim Reid, Takealot.com CEO.<\/p>\n
Last week, the group raised $100 million (just over R1 billion) from its major shareholder, New York Based, Tiger Global Management.<\/p>\n
Reid said that the South African market has shown encouraging signs of e-commerce growth in the past three years as an increasing number of consumers become accustomed to transacting online.<\/p>\n
The potential for e-commerce is large, in a retail market in excess of R500 billion, online transactions currently account for less than 1%, the former Naspers employee said.<\/p>\n
Reid told CNBC Africa <\/a>that the latest cash injection would be put into working capital, technology, warehousing and logistics, and increasing human capital.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re also going to be looking at expansion into sub-Saharan Africa. Our sub-Saharan Africa plans are currently confidential. We do have ambitions, but we\u2019re first going to consolidate in South Africa,” Reid said.<\/p>\n Tiger Global is a United States based investment firm which manages hedge funds and private equity funds.<\/p>\n Takealot, which was born after the\u00a0acquisition and rebranding of Take2<\/strong><\/a>, was officially launched on 15 June 2011.<\/p>\n “Our current growth rates are in excess of 100 percent and there\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t keep those growth rates growing for the foreseeable future,” Reid told CNBC Africa.<\/p>\n Naspers response<\/strong><\/p>\n Kalahari.com,\u00a0South Africa’s largest online retailer, and owned by listed media and internet giant, Naspers, pointed to accelerating growth.<\/p>\n “Kalahari is the market leader in e-retail in South Africa and has been for the past fifteen years. We have an established track record and a diversified product portfolio that is well entrenched with the South African consumer,” said CEO, Caren Genthner-Kappes in a statement.<\/p>\n “We see accelerating growth in our own business and great potential in the South African market overall, so it is to be expected that this would attract more investments.”<\/p>\n Takealot raises $100 million in funding<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Takealot launches daily deals section<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on Takealot<\/h3>\n