Takealot South Africa has introduced a service that goes beyond retail, opening the door to something much bigger.

It is clear that when Amazon South Africa launched on 6 May, there was a lot of interest online about the ecommerce platform – likely generated by the extensive news coverage the launch received.

Amazon plans to launch an online marketplace in South Africa as part of a global expansion in the coming year.

Amazon launched its online shopping service in South Africa on Tuesday, challenging a number of online retailers dominated by Naspers' Takealot.com.

South Africa has many excellent online shopping websites, including Takealot, Kalahari, Yuppie Chef, Spree and Woolworths. Unfortunately not all online shopping services are the same.

Naspers, Africa's biggest ecommerce and digital company, has just invested nearly $70-million into Takealot, South Africa's largest ecommerce site.

Some of South Africa’s largest ecommerce platforms have struggled to keep up with customer demand in recent weeks. A lot of the blame has been placed on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had an ...