By Myles Illidge - MyBroadband

Game has expanded its partnership with Uber Eats, enabling customers to shop for small appliances and electronics from 51 Game stores on the Uber Eats platform.

Parent company Massmart is on a big e-commerce push, and has integrated 23 Game stores in its on-demand delivery app, OneCart.

Massmart’s OneCart platform boasts an average delivery time of 17 minutes. The most popular items are baked beans, pasta, and parboiled rice.

The company said this showcases the demand for convenient and quick access to essential groceries.

Game said it launched electronics deliveries with Uber Eats in May and has now expanded to 51 Game locations nationwide.

Massmart said it has seen a positive response from customers and continued growth.

“Best-selling essentials like nappies, milk, rice, and oil have been incredibly popular,” says Game’s vice president, Andre Steyn. 

“Since introducing small appliances and electronics, we’ve noticed a significant interest in items like kettles, headphones, and blenders. Our customers have appreciated the quick and reliable delivery service.”

Massmart recently told MyBroadband that its OneCart platform has seen substantial growth in 2024, with sales increasing by more than 200% during the first half of the year.

It currently offers roughly 75,000 products from Makro, Game, and Builders, with delivery within 60 minutes.

“Massmart already has on-demand capabilities through the OneCart App, which we own,” it said.

“Not only does OneCart have the ability to deliver South Africa’s cheapest grocery basket from Makro, it also provides on-demand access to products including laptops, cellphones, inverters and liquor.”

The company recently announced plans to convert some of its underperforming Game store locations in malls to small-format Makro stores. This will help it expand its distribution footprint for Makro through OneCart.

Industry experts believe the move is a good one. 36ONE Asset Management portfolio manager Evan Walker believes the strategy will help Massmart compete with Takealot, Amazon, Temu, and Shein.

Massmart isn’t the only major South African retailer to integrate its stores into a third-party on-demand delivery app like Uber Eats or Mr D.

In October 2022, Pick n Pay announced its integration with Takealot’s Mr D platform, offering customers the ability to shop for Pick n Pay groceries through a dedicated tab in the Mr D app.

“This new dedicated grocery shopping experience with Pick n Pay through the Mr D app allows customers to shop over 10,000 food and grocery products — at the same price as in-store — for delivery in an hour,” said Mr D CEO Alexander Wörz.

“It really ups the convenience factor for customers.”

To align with an in-store shopping experience, PnP Smart Shopper and FNB eBucks customers can earn points through purchases made through the app.

“Customers place the order on the Mr D app, Pick n Pay does the picking in its stores, and Mr D’s delivery partners then collect and deliver the order to the customer,” said Worz.

The partnership arose through a commercial services agreement signed by Takealot and Pick n Pay earlier in 2022.

“Partnerships such as these unlock significant value and opportunity, leading to new business models and employment opportunities that result in more of our people being able to work and contribute to growing our economy,” Takealot said.

Pick n Pay CEO said the partnership was exciting and formed an essential part of the grocer’s Ekuseni strategic plan.

“Working with the Takealot Group, we have developed a highly scalable offer which will give many more customers the opportunity to buy Pick n Pay groceries online,” it said.