Pargo blog

South Africa’s well-loved online health store, Faithful to Nature now offers Pargo as a convenient delivery option, which allows you to pick up your online shopping at over 1200 parcel pick up points nationwide. This innovative delivery method empowers you to leave the house or the office and pick up your parcels when it suits you and where it suits you. Pargo pick up points include Clicks Stores, some Caltex Fresh Stops and some Lewis stores. Choosing a pick up point instead of home delivery means that courier companies don’t have to attempt to drop off your online shopping several times, thereby significantly reducing the carbon footprint of your parcel.

Faithful to Nature is one of South Africa’s most popular online health shops with an ever-expanding range of alternative products. Founded in 2006 by Robyn Smith with the intention of giving people a relaxing shopping experience, while offering toxin-free products from slurpable vegan protein shakes and yoga pants made from post-consumer plastic bottles to Ayurvedic tongue scrapers. Faithful to Nature is one of the first companies in the world to have created a strict ingredient policy. Every single product is checked to be sure that it really is as green and as safe as its manufacturers claim it is.

To choose freedom as a delivery option, simply click “Pargo collection” on the check out page under shipping options. Once clicked you can select your Pargo parcel point.

Currently, Faithful to Nature is running a Black Friday Campaign in collaboration with Saving the Survivors, who do amazing work attending to injured rhinos that have fallen victim to traumas of poaching. Discounts of up to 60% on some of Faithful to Nature’s most loved health products are up for grabs. During the BLACK5DAYSALE, a portion of these sales will be donated to Saving the Survivors in aid of their efforts.

With online shopping steadily growing in South Africa, Black Friday is turning into a shopping splurge which extends well beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday. South African online stores, the likes of Spree, TFG and OneDayOnly are publishing specials of up to 70%.

Black Friday is understood to be the start of the Christmas shopping season and has been around since 1952 (yeah, that long!).

A lot has changed since 1952 and thanks to Pargo, you can pick up your parcel “on the go” at any Clicks store or even Caltex garage.

If you haven’t tried Pargo yet and are still waiting at home for online shopping deliveries while your friends are trying new restaurants and catching summer tans, I’ve got news for you.

Using Pargo has never been more rewarding. During Pargo’s #yellowfriday month you can try our convenient Pargo pick up points nationwide and win a R3000 shopping voucher.

Cape Town, 6 November 2017 – Pargo, South Africa’s leading high-tech logistics and fulfilment company, has been selected as the first South African delegate to join the eFounders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme, titled Shaping Champions for the New Economy, hosted by Alibaba in the city of Hangzhou, China. The programme is organized jointly by the Alibaba Group and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and will explore the opportunity to effectively advance and develop an e-commerce ecosystem in Africa together with Alibaba.

Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma announced the initiative during a recent visit to Rwanda and Kenya. Ma, who also advises the UNCTAD on small business and young entrepreneurs, is a big believer in using ecommerce to drive development on the African continent and that the Internet should be a utility available to the whole world. During his trip Ma pledged to support domestic and cross-border e-commerce and work with African universities, governments and entrepreneurs to develop training programs in areas such as e-commerce, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing.

The eFounders Initiative Entrepreneurship Training Programme includes a 2-week course at the Alibaba Business School and will take the 25 high-potential entrepreneurs from across Africa to learn from e-commerce giants Alibaba, Taobao.com and Tmall.com. The programme outcomes are to:

+ Learn how ecommerce has transformed the economy and society in China, along with learn the necessary skills required to advance the participant companies.

+ Develop a new era of online business, and eventually play a role in building the African ecommerce ecosystem.

+ Empower the participants to not only apply the acquired knowledge in their home countries but also mobilize and inspire others to embrace the new economy paradigm, and

+ Create a local community of e-commerce champions who can support one another moving forward.

Lars Veul, director and co-founder at Pargo says: “it’s a privilege to be selected as the first South African company for this prestigious program. The ecommerce ecosystem in South Africa has seen significant growth over the last years, although last mile logistics remain one of the key challenges that we are solving, there are still many more challenges we need to deal with collectively.” He added that to be recognized by an industry leader like Alibaba with over 18-year experience and participate in the program will without a doubt have a major impact on Pargo, and open opportunities for Pargo to enable more international partners to access South Africa and other emerging economies.

Cape Town, 24 April 2017 - Bert Koenders, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands was welcomed and received by Consul General Bonnie Horbach on 12 April 2017 in Cape Town as part of his official visit to South Africa. The Minister explored Cape Town's start-up scene at the Woodstock Exchange and met with local and Dutch business owners. Lars Veul and Derk Hoekert the co-founders of Pargo, South Africa’s leading high tech logistics and fulfilment company, were invited to a lunch and roundtable discussion with the Minister and Consul General.

The Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cape Town aims to actively promote inclusive economic growth and support Dutch businesses by strengthening entrepreneurship and cross sectoral cooperation in South Africa. This is most evident through its #cocreateSA campaign, which is based on the belief that sustainable solutions can be co-created by working together.

As part of the #cocreateSA campaign, the TenaCiTi programme, was initiated by the Consulate General in collaboration with the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi), in response to feedback received from Dutch business owners in Cape Town. The programme aims to equip junior staff of small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups with the necessary soft skills to enter into the work space after completing their studies

One of the companies participating in the TenaCiTi programme is the logistics solutions provider Pargo. The Dutch co-founders and directors at Pargo, Lars Veul and Derk Hoekert, stated, “After arriving in South Africa in 2012 we recognized the big opportunity to start Pargo and disrupt the logistics industry. There was a digital shift happening, with a fast growing e-commerce landscape, increase in mobile penetration and improved payment possibilities through fin-tech start-ups. The missing link was a convenient logistics solution, which we launched in 2015. The last two years have proven that we are on the right track. We have grown the pick-up network to over 1000 stores and thousands of South Africans are using our service every day.”

The Minister was joined at the TenaCiti Lab by TenaCiTi participants and Dutch business owners for a roundtable conversation. Facilitated by Mignon Keyser, strategic facilitator to the programme, the discussions touched on why Dutch entrepreneurs are attracted to Cape Town’s start-up scene and the subsequent challenges they experienced; as well as the experience of junior recruits and business owners participating in the TenaCiTi programme.

CAPE TOWN, MARCH 22nd – Pargo, South Africa’s leading high tech logistics and fulfillment company, announced today that it has secured a new equity investment of over R 15 million in a funding round led by SAAD Investment Holdings. Veteran Beijing-based venture capital firm, Tsing Capital, and Pay-U co-founder, Johan Dekker, also participated in the round. The funds will be used by the company for growing working capital needs arising from its rapid expansion of sales, for aggressive new marketing plans, as well as to develop and widen its logistics and fulfillment services offering. The company is very pleased to announce that Johan du Preez, CEO of SAAD Investment Holdings, will join Pargo’s board of directors, bringing his substantial experience and network to assist in Pargo’s future development.

Founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs Lars Veul and Derk Hoekert, Pargo has developed a proprietary and technology-based physical network, using existing retail stores, which allows customers to both send and receive parcels at dedicated pick-up points throughout the country.  This solution addresses logistic challenges that South Africans face daily. This includes busy, mobile people who find it inconvenient to wait around for a courier delivery, as well as those  in informal settlements and rural areas where home delivery is often not available or very expensive. Its compelling solutions provide convenience and cost savings. It also removes the need to rely on the volatile service levels of the South Africa Post Office in cases where normal courier deliveries are not feasible. Similar business models have proven to be effective in international markets, including the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan.

This recently closed funding round builds on an exceptional 2016 for Pargo, which saw revenues increase 629% YoY, the client base increase by 463%, and the physical collection point network grow to over 1,000 unique pick-up points located across the country.  With the already enhanced economies of scale brought about by the exponential increase in Pargo’s pick-up point network to date, the business’ competitive position should be even further solidified in the coming months, as a result of the new funding which will serve to further accelerate the network’s expansion.

“We are very pleased with the quality and endorsement of our new shareholders, and the possibilities of accelerating our expansion, as well as adding new services that these new funds open up for us” say Lars Veul and Derk Hoekert, Directors and co-founders at Pargo. They add: “We also encourage retail store partners, customers and talented developers to look us up to find out what joining us can mean for you in terms of cost, convenience, and career benefits.”

Johan du Preez, CEO of SAAD Investment Holdings says: “Pargo has clearly hit a vein of consumer need with its logistics-oriented fulfillment services. In combination with its proprietary technology and first-mover advantage, this latest investment – coupled with the collective guidance from the investor consortium - should serve to solidify the business’ lead position in this market.”

Pargo is a Cape Town based, South African company, which offers fulfillment services to retailers through its network of more than 1,000 pick-up and drop-off points across the country. Customers send or collect packages and parcels from trusted and well-known retail stores for a small and very affordable charge, removing the necessity or cost of having to wait at home. To date, Pargo has signed up more than 300 retail partners.

Interested in working at Pargo? We are always looking for ambitious talent. Get in touch via [email protected] or 021 447 3636.

Congratulations to the teams at Ink Station Claremont, Caltex Villieria and Clicks in I’langa Mall on becoming our latest Pargo Star points. 

These pick-up points have been recognised for great customer service and their prominent display of marketing material in store. Their commitment to training all staff has guaranteed that customers experience quick and helpful service when picking up their parcels.

Located close to the Woolworths, Ink Station is part of a village-like community of shops in Palmyra Junction in Claremont Cape Town. Kurt, the owner of Ink Station, looked at ways to capitalise on the stores' proximity to daily shopping stores and readily available street parking. With zero setup and no ongoing costs, Pargo provided the perfect complementary service to the stores existing grocery business.

“Pargo brings people through the door and offers the opportunity for people to see what you have on offer. Pargo is the equivalent of free advertising for your business. Customers enjoy the convenience of being able to quickly collect their parcel close to home or work. Although we are a small store, we are able to quickly assist our customers with a real friendly smile thus making their visit quick and pleasurable. ” Kim & Felicia, Ink Station Claremont.

Anne Joy from Clicks told us that they can confirm that Pargo customers purchase additional items in-store when they come and pick up their parcel. Pargo brings new and old customers into the Click stores and ultimately increase sales. 

"the store also acts as a Pargo pick-up point for internet purchases."

CAPE TOWN, FEB 21 – Click-and-collect is on the rise as a new logistic solution in South Africa. Online retailers are using the convenient delivery method as an alternative to traditional logistic options. Pargo, the leading click-and-collect company in SA, confirms this trend. “We’ve seen huge growth in 2016 of people using our click-and-collect service.” says Lars Veul, co-founder at Pargo. “An increased number of retailers are offering their user the option to collect their parcels at one of our Pargo pick-up points.” The rise of click-and-collect is in line with the overall growth of e-commerce within South Africa and follows the global trend that started in the US and UK.

Click-and-collect is a convenient delivery method that allows consumers to buy goods online and get those goods delivered to a collection point of their choice. Consumers are then free to collect their goods at their convenience.

Pargo launched in Jan 2015 and has since created a network of 1000+ collection points across the country. The parcel points are set up at trusted retail chains like Clicks, Freshstop at Caltex, Waltons and 7Eleven. Most stores are open 24/7 so you are not reliant on the business hours of the courier or post office anymore.

Many online companies, including Spree, TFG, bidorbuy and Onedayonly use Pargo as an alternative, convenient delivery option. “People don’t want to wait for their delivery all day” says Derk Hoekert, co-founder at Pargo. “By using our click-and-collect service they can buy online and collect when it suits them best, on their way home after work for instance.”

THE BENEFITS

Save time and collect when it suits you best, no more missed deliveries

Save money through consolidated delivery of parcels

Better service through a secure and transparent IT tracking system

Unique return solution by simply dropping off your parcel at a Pargo parcel point

Maurits Vermeulen, Director at OneDayOnly, added Pargo as a delivery option to his site last year and has seen a big increase in the number of customers that use the service. “The number of customers that choose click-and-collect doubles monthly, since we added the option,” says Vermeulen, “Pargo allows us to service customers that know that they are not at home to receive a delivery and there is a chance that these customers otherwise wouldn’t have placed their orders.”

MyPargo, Pargo's new, sophisticated partner portal, makes online deliveries and returns easy. For 1 rate and with 2 clicks, you can now send or return a parcel anywhere in the country. Create, manage and track your parcels without the trouble of a paper trail. It is easy to navigate with a clear overview and reporting of all orders processed. MyPargo will replace the current way of sending manual orders and creating waybills making the process more transparent and efficient. 

E-commerce is set to increase in popularity and consumer uptake in South Africa this year due to a number of supporting trends: from a greater variety offered by e-tailers, to the evolution of tech offerings, such as shopping apps and the profile and behaviour of shoppers, says a report from Bizcommunity earlier this month. Pargo offers an alternative solution to the traditional delivery methods and helps retailers keep up with online traffic. 

Sending and returning parcels has never been so easy and accessible. Customers that choose Pargo can collect their parcel 24 hours, 7 days a week via the Pargo network of 1000 pick-up points throughout the country. 

Few South Africans are at home during standard delivery times to accept their parcels and the country has a high level of informal housing, with no formal street addresses for delivery. These unique demands in the South African online shopping context require innovative thinking around delivery and returns. The e-commerce team at TFG (The Foschini Group) has introduced third party collection points and is considering the use of drones, in the future. It has implemented the Pargo solution, where customers can collect deliveries at a convenient pick-up point close to home.

Pargo can be selected as a delivery option at checkout at no additional cost if the total basket is R500 or more, with an integrated map allowing shoppers to select the most convenient pick-up location for their parcel. Once the parcel arrives at the collection point, a text message is sent to the shopper stating their parcel is ready for collection.

“It is essential that we adapt global standards of best practice to suit the South African market and socio-economic conditions,” says Robyn Cooke, head of e-commerce at TFG. “This is why we are also looking at innovative ‘Deliver to Me’ options, leveraging geo-location services as Uber does, to avoid the need for specific street addresses.”

Drone delivery is another innovation headed to South Africa. “We believe it will happen at some point in South Africa. It is going to take a while to iron out the legalities, and will be driven by emergency medical requirements and the like. However, it will happen at some stage in the next five years for smaller, easily transportable items,” says Cooke.

TFG is also going to introduce ‘timed’ deliveries within the year, where shoppers get to specify the time they want their delivery to be made.

“Globally deliveries and returns are optimised around customer convenience and preference and I see no reason why the same can’t transform the South African environment,” says Cooke. “Online shopping should be moulded to suit customers’ lives, not the other way around.”

Are there global delivery and returns trends that are set to transform the e-commerce landscape in SA?

Cooke: Globally deliveries and returns are optimised around customer convenience and preference and I see no reason why the same cannot transform the South African environment. We are going to see much fluidity in the omni-channel delivery space, where a customer will become much more flexible about ordering online within the store environment, from home or on the move, and always having it delivered. Alternatively, the converse, where they may order online, but always prefer to pick their purchases up in store or a combination of the above. Online shopping should be moulded to suit customers’ lives, not the other way around. We also cannot ignore the looming spectre of drones being used in delivery.

BizcommunitySA conditions demand innovation. What are TFG’s biggest challenges and how are you rising to meet these?

The specific SA context is fraught with hijackings and terrible road accident statistics. We see this affecting the delivery service of all e-commerce retailers. At TFG, all parties are working extremely hard to mitigate these risks and keep the incidents to less than 0.5% of all deliveries.

BizcommunityNot having an official home street address, or not being allowed to receive personal packages at work can be a barrier to online shopping. Are you looking at third-party collection points as a solution?

It is essential that we adapt global standards of best practice to suit South African market and socio-economic conditions. For example, few South Africans are at home during standard delivery times to accept their parcels. We also have a high level of informal housing, with no formal street addresses for delivery. This is why we have implemented the Pargo solution, so customers can collect deliveries at a pick up point close to home, 24 hours a day. We are also looking at innovative ‘Deliver to Me’ options, leveraging geo-location services like those that Uber does, to avoid the need for specific street addresses.

BizcommunityDoes TFG offer free shipping?

Free shipping is offered to all shoppers who spend over R500 and opt for standard delivery.

BizcommunityIs TFG able to offer overnight, one-day, or even same-day delivery across South Africa?

TFG offers overnight delivery services to all but our outlying areas. We are looking at same-day delivery for the metropolitan areas of Cape Town and Johannesburg as a service for next year, but it really depends on product availability to get this right.

BizcommunityDo TFG customers have to pay for express delivery?

Yes. Petrol and warehousing are expensive in South Africa and these costs are increasing. We pass on some of this cost to our customer and absorb some of it ourselves, as a value added service. As a responsible retailer, we offer innovative delivery options, but the faster and more urgent it is, the more expensive it is.

BizcommunityWhich is most popular – same day delivery at a cost, or delayed but free?

South African customers are aligned to their international brothers and sisters. They expect an entry-level free shipping option and are unlikely to shop fashion online if there is no free returns policy. They do not mind waiting a few days for free delivery. However, they definitely want the option to pay extra if they need something in a hurry.

BizcommunityDo you offer shoppers the opportunity to specify the day and time of delivery, rather than accept the usual 'some time' that day option?

We believe that anything that can make life easier and more convenient for our customers should be introduced, so are currently monitoring a test in this regard.

BizcommunityDoes TFG offer customers live tracking and live chat communication to enable them to follow every step of the process?

Customers can track orders very simply with TFG. Just plug in the order number on the home page of our sites to check the status. We also send email and SMS communication throughout the journey to ensure our customers are up to date.

BizcommunityHow important is the returns process?

An easy returns process is critical for apparel specifically, encouraging a customer to buy online, even if they aren’t 100% sure of the fit.

BizcommunityHow is TFG making returns faster and painless?

TFG returns are free and we allow our customers to return their parcel to the physical store for an immediate refund, or call the courier to collect at the customer’s convenience. We are exploring innovations to see if we can implement efficiencies to make this even more convenient for our customers.

BizcommunityDo customers generally prefer to drop off returns in-store, or courier collection?

Christmas trees, lights, lanterns and cards are just some of the things that reminds us of the holiday season. One typical tradition for this time of the year is, of course, giving and receiving Christmas presents! However, it takes a lot of hard work to go through the rush of Christmas shopping.

Pargo has the solution. Shop at your favourite online shop at any time during the day or night, choose your preferred Pargo point and collect when it suits you best. You can stay away from holiday shopping crowds and still find the perfect Christmas gift online, but don't have to wait at home all for the delivery. If you are travelling during the holiday season you can have your gifts delivered at a Pargo point at your holiday destination and collect when you arrive there.

Pargo delivers your Christmas purchases to a pick-up point nearby you and informs you by sms and email when the parcel is ready for collection. No more missed deliveries and more convenience. Pargo allows you to collect parcels at one of our 750 retail stores throughout the country, including Clicks, Freshtop at Caltex, Waltons and 7Eleven.

Choose Pargo for an untroubled and happy Christmas! Is Pargo not yet part of your favourite website? Send us an email and we will ensure that we are soon.