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06 JUNE 2023
New ecommerce head to drive Massmart's online growth
by Christopher Tredger

Thembani Biyam, Massmart
Massmart, owner of Makro, Game and Builders retail brands, has appointed a new member to its ecommerce leadership team and, with a revamped website and apps, is gunning for additional market share.

The company appointed Thembani Biyam as VP, Group eCommerce, B2C Platforms. Biyam served as country manager for OLX and CEO of South Africa’s first food delivery App, Orderin. He is responsible for accelerating Massmart’s online growth.

In its last reported annual results presentation (FY 2021) before delisting from the JSE, Walmart-owned Massmart reported that its ecommerce portfolio contributed 2% to overall sales revenue. The company says it saw a growth of over 90% in 2022, which would bring the ecommerce share to just under 4%.

The foundational work for its ecommerce strategy included building a centralised and much expanded ecommerce structure in its head office, increased investments in technology (including a large support team in Walmart’s global tech hub in Bangalore) and the creation of new ecommerce leadership roles.

Biyam will manage the roll-out of Massmart’s B2C ecommerce strategy across Makro, Game and Builders and collaborate with store operations teams across the group to ensure a seamless experience for customers. He will also oversee ecommerce shared services, a new centralised function that will provide consolidated category and sales-focused support, with dedicated teams for functions including merchandise content (product information, ratings and reviews); web content (eg, digital banners); and products not readily available in store.

According to Massmart, low participation in ecommerce is due in part to customer concerns over data privacy and payment security. The company has stated that access to cyber security experts at Walmart gives the group an advantage in this regard to ensure it keeps up to date with major global risks and is ready to implement the required measures on its websites.

Biyam adds that ecommerce adoption in South Africa has lagged global counterparts for several reasons, which include historically high mobile data costs and unique geographical challenges that can make it difficult to identify delivery addresses in a number of South African communities.

However, a 2022 study by World Wide Worx with Mastercard revealed that online retail in SA grew 30%, bringing the total online retail figure in the country to R55 billion. This came after 40% growth in 2021.

Massmart believes its mobile-first approach, based on website revamps and design of native apps, will result in a more intuitive and data friendly user experience. All website and app enhancements have been designed in-house with the support of Walmart’s global tech hub team.

The company points to its Game platform as an example, saying it now features improved search functionality, new product categories and improved order tracking. The Builders website is the next in line for a revamp “over the next few months”.

The company did not specify any market share targets but believes the level of ecommerce contribution to overall sales will triple before 2030.

Republished with permission from ITWeb Limited
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