2019: Click & Collect Rising

A startup never sleeps and while most people rested their eyes for a couple of moments during the December holidays Pargo finished the year on a high and worked really hard to ensure that everybody got their parcel. And with success! We had our busiest month ever and managed to keep everybody smiling. Thank you for assisting us on this mission to change the logistics landscape in Africa!

2019 is going to be a big year for brands and retailers that joined the Click and Collect movement as ecommerce keeps on growing and more companies are embracing an omni-channel logistics approach. Industry leaders and ecommerce reports agree – everything indicates that 2019 is going to be the year that Click and Collect breaks through in South Africa.

Our team here at Pargo is doing its part to facilitate the growth of ecommerce and Click and Collect in Africa. The ever-growing Pargo network of pick-up points and the increasing number of popular brands using them to optimise customer experience is one of the signals that Click and Collect is on the rise in South Africa. The Pargo pick-up point network now consists of 2250 pick-up points, servicing even the most remote areas like Hotazel and Steiloop.

We like to nurture conversation with our customers and create pick-up points where they are needed the most. This is why we keep adding popular retail brands to our network. In 2019 our customers can look forward to picking up their parcels at well-loved stores like Clicks, Caltex, The Bodyshop, Spar and Lewis.

Another indication of the rise of Click and Collect is how often online shoppers use the service. When we started Pargo in 2015 only 5-7% of online shoppers opted to collect their orders from a nearby store. This percentage has risen to 21% over the last holiday period! It’s safe to say we might be moving up the Diffusion of Innovation curve from mainly attracting visionaries (Innovators and Early Adopters) to also waking interest in pragmatists to try the service (Early Majority). The proof is in the pudding of course and so we keep integrating Pargo Click and Collect with popular retail stores. The Foschini Group, OneDayOnly, Clicks, Wellness Warehouse and Cape Union Mart are a few places where you will find the Pargo Click and Collect option in 2019.

Great customer experience will be one of the key drivers for the further growth of our service. We’ve made a huge step forward in this regard in 2018 with an obsessive focus on getting the customer experience right along the different touch points of the delivery process. Convenient locations, well-trained staff, fast retrieval times, simple check out process, secure storage of parcels, , and fast delivery times are just a few of the points where we try to continuously improve.

So why are people using Click and Collect and why is it growing in popularity?

This focus on our customer service hasn’t gone unnoticed. We track the customer journey throughout the delivery and collection process and use rating and feedback loops to improve where we can. Overall this feedback has been increasingly positive and has resulted in what is arguably the highest rating on Google and Facebook for any tech company in Africa. We will keep focusing on the customer experience to make an even bigger difference in 2019.

As a finalist of the FNB Business Innovation awards and a member of Endeavour we have been applauded for our innovation. This will continue to be a main driver for the our growth in 2019. The stake is high for us to give you the best possible solution and grow from strength to strength with you in 2019.

Lars Veul | Co-Founder Pargo