South African customers have become extremely picky when choosing a delivery service, having been burnt one too many times by late drop-offs, drivers becoming lost, or no updates being provided on the status of their parcels.
The first sign of any issues and they’ll be off to look for a service provider who can meet their expectations of convenience.
A new series of humorous Ads by Click and Collect specialist Pargo has picked up on customers’ frustrations to great effect.
The latest Ad, which airs for the first time today, shows a delivery driver at his wits’ end as he encounters a broken street sign, no signal and a customer’s phone that rings unanswered. His anguish plays off against a painless experience at a late-night Pargo Point.
It comes on the back of the company’s hugely successful “Live more, wait less” video, where a South African misses out on all the fun in her life while battling late deliveries. More than 75,000 users have viewed the slot on YouTube alone.
Pargo CEO Lars Veul explains that the recent Ads resonate with South Africans because they are all too familiar with these scenarios. “They’re funny because they’re true,” he says.
The massive rise of the Click and Collect model, both in South Africa and abroad, has coincided with growing discontent over traditional delivery methods.
A recent online poll conducted by South African news publication The Witness found that 53.8% of respondents would rather pick up their goods from a pickup point than be delivered to them.
In the UK, Barclays Corporate Bank has found that Click and Collect now accounts for 40% of sales for retailers offering the service.
The model works for consumers for a variety of reasons, Veul says.
For one, there is total visibility of exactly when an order lands at a chosen pickup point.
For another, the consumer can determine when and where they want to collect, offering a high level of convenience.
One of the biggest drawcards for online consumers is delivery tracking, which keeps both the sender and shopper updated on the progress of the delivery.
Since launching in 2015, Pargo has all but made the Click and Collect space its own in the South African market. Consumers can now collect parcels from a choice of over 4,000 Pargo Points around the country.
As Veul points out, its Click and Collect offering is more affordable than traditional delivery methods since its large network located in South Africa’s major retailers allows it to offer competitive pricing.
It essentially means effective and cheaper delivery has been opened up to a much wider audience which enjoys the benefit of e-mails and text messages being sent when orders are ready for collection.
“Collection takes place when and where it suits customers. And often this is outside of standard business hours and over weekends,” Veul says.
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