Takealot hits record highs despite Black Friday downtime

Although Takealot was inaccessible for a majority of shoppers on Black Friday 2017, the sales day became the biggest in its history based on visits.

The Cape Town-based etailer recorded 2.2-million visits to the website and app on 24 November. That’s a 280% increase in visits compared to Black Friday 2016.

Those visits, at least those recorded within the first hour of its sale, generated in excess of R6-million in gross merchandising value. This jumped to R12-million in the next two hours, and ultimately R87-million at the end of Black Friday.

In total, more than 52 000 orders were placed on the website and app.

“Black Friday was one heck of a day,” Takelot CEO Kim Reid declared in a press release.

“We are fully aware that the day was far from ideal for our customers and are incredibly humbled that people continued to support us throughout the day. We know we have disappointed some customers and we are very sorry to have done so.”