Citymob benefits from Wantitall.co.za investment

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Described as one of South Africa's largest online retailers, with over 14 million products available online, Wantitall.co.za brings improved systems, logistics, warehousing facilities, increased access to customers, strong supplier relationships and improved staffing to Citymob.

Comments Jedeikin, "We're extremely excited about this new partnership, it will allow us to upscale quickly and ensure a world-class logistics offering. The company was looking for partners that could bring with them the required expertise and help us grow, and we believe we've found the perfect fit."

Citymob catapulted into the e-commerce design space in July 2012. At that time, the average amount of products sold daily via the site was 80 and the database contained approximately 50 000 members. Now it sells 10 times as many products daily, reaching an extensive database of over 300 000 individuals. "Our growth in recent months has been exceptional," continues Jedeikin. "The group has seen significant month-on-month turnover growth since its relaunch into curated, 'design' products, leaving the group buying space, from which it was conceived, in its tracks. To meet the increased product demand, the company grew its staff complement from 14 people in July 2012 to 35 in February 2013, including warehouse staff.

Comments Justin Drennan, founder of Wantitall.co.za, "We've been working on a highly automated warehouse system over the past few years and more recently have been seeking a partner to share this with. After meeting and evaluating numerous opportunities, we have found a partner with growth prospects and a shared vision whom we are delighted to include within our existing warehouse infrastructure."

Jedeikin attributes the company's success primarily to its product offerings but more recently this has been combined with its significantly improved shipping & customer service. "It's all about the product - both physical and virtual. Our development team owns our virtual product; our curators own our physical product and the founders oversee both. We are always enhancing, always improving and always progressing. Our turnover has increased by some 300% in the past 6 months, which reassures us that we are doing something right."

Top five in e-commerce in SA

At the end of 2012, Citymob was ranked in the top five SA e-commerce companies by web traffic, according to online rating site Alexa.com, moving ahead of powerhouses such as Kulula.com, Yuppiechef, Computicket and Instagram. Now, in addition to improved logistics, warehousing facilities and increased staffing achieved via the partnership, it is able to tap into the extensive experience and strong supplier relationships Wantitall.co.za has gained over the last six years.

"Since inception we've evolved our model continuously and we foresee this new partnership as a key ingredient in allowing us to evolve further, extending our footprint and becoming one of the top online retail destinations in the country," says Jedeikin.

Its devotees can also now look out for exclusive brands and products from Europe, America, Australia, Japan and more. "We want to cement our position as Africa's #1 Design destination and this new and powerful partnership strengthens our ability to do that," he concludes.