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Here come the big guns.

Takealot dominates the South African online retail space and regularly posts revenue growth numbers that put it head and shoulders above the chasing pack.

According to leaked documents, that dominance is about to be challenged by one of the biggest names of all, Amazon, in a project code-named ‘Project Fela’.

Business Insider broke the news after obtaining internal Amazon documents:

Amazon plans to launch its online marketplace in 5 new countries by early next year…

The five countries are Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and South Africa… [and] the timing of the rollouts were detailed in an internal timeline.

South Africa, codenamed Project Fela, is expected in February 2023…

All countries are planning to launch with their own marketplace and access to Amazon’s fulfillment service called Fulfillment by Amazon, one of the documents said.

This will definitely cause some consternation at Takealot, as well as other prominent local retailers like Makro.

Earlier this year, Amazon was known to be on the hunt for warehouse space in South Africa and the retail giant appears to have secured what it was after.

The company is on a mission to expand its global footprint:

The company needs to generate more demand, as growth is slowing across the board following a two-year, pandemic-driven sales explosion. Amazon has been scaling back hiring, subleasing warehouse space, and limiting delivery network expansion this year in anticipation of a prolonged slowdown.

Onboarding more sellers in new countries may help Amazon fill more of its warehouses, which are dealing with excess capacity after overbuilding facilities during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Hitting the ground running in South Africa will be helped by the fact that the company already has a footprint here via its Amazon Web Services offices.

Here’s hoping Amazon’s arrival heralds a wider choice for consumers without squashing smaller local companies.

Also, maybe we’ll actually get some proper Black Friday deals.

[source:businsider]