Johannesburg start-up ApplianceOnline.co.za serves as a platform for SA consumers to buy appliances online.
The kitchen, cleaning and household appliance online store is the second South African-based e-commerce venture from Sovereignty Technology, after design and home decor e-commerce site Smacs.co.za.
According to Gerald Neves, CEO Sovereignty Technology, the site is intended to provide customers with increased efficiency and greater price transparency across different products and brands.
"We've decided on appliances because we feel that appliances play such an important role in improving one's standard of living, and we want to give a larger portion of the population the ability to do so," says Neves. "We most definitely think there is a big enough market for the site as e-commerce in South Africa is showing all the signs of a market set to boom, and we don't feel that any of the competitors in our space do a good enough job."
Appliance Online products are delivered across SA, with delivery charges based on location, says Neves, adding that the service's cost of delivery is "extremely reasonable". Having a dishwasher delivered anywhere in Johannesburg will set the consumer back R80; this amount increases to R250 should the product be delivered to outlying areas, he notes.
"We do not offer the removal of old appliances as of yet, but this service, along with installation and repairs of appliances, is something we are working hard to implement as soon as possible," Neves states, noting that appliance removal and support services are essential should the platform want to establish itself as a full service appliance destination.
In line with this, Neves notes that the team from Appliance Online is also in the process of developing group payment functionality. This will allow for multiple contributors to a single shopping cart, making splitting the cost of an appliance purchase between several parties simpler, he says. This is an area of focus for the team, as one of its members was involved in group gifting platform VenTribe.com, which allows groups of Facebook friends to easily contribute money towards gifts.
As a start-up in the online retail space, Neves acknowledges that there is a general lack of customer engagement in the industry. Attempting to counteract this, the Appliance Online community blog offers consumers handy user tips and buying guides, as well as live chat support with the brand's appliance team, Neves says.
"Whilst we can't write a handwritten note to be inserted with your new fridge, we can make sure that it's delivered in a timely manner, in perfect condition, and you know exactly what to do with it."
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