Dis-Chem, the listed pharmaceutical retail chain, has partnered with on-demand delivery service Quench to satisfy SA’s growing thirst for online shopping as the Covid-19 pandemic deters consumers from frequenting crowded shopping centres.
The app-based delivery service, which branched out from alcohol deliveries in March when it began delivering groceries for Woolworths, will offer customers the ability to place orders via personal shoppers at Dis-Chem stores in all major metropolitan areas in SA as of December 17.
The service will initially cover personal hygiene and unscheduled medicines with delivery times of approximately one-hour, though plans are afoot to include deliveries of prescription medicines in due course.
“We started negotiating with Dis-Chem a few months ago and concluded the contract last week,” said Liam McCreedy, founder and COO at Dis-Chem. “Although we started in the liquor industry, we had to pivot to groceries due to the lockdown regulations and were fortunate to partner with Woolworths. Thanks to our partnership with Dis-Chem, we are now also to offer pharmaceutical deliveries on the app to complement our existing liquor, grocery and restaurant delivery services.”
The advent of Covid-19 has sparked a once-in-a-generation shift towards online shopping in SA with World Wide Worx saying in October that the pandemic has accelerated online sales penetration by at least two years. The technology market research firm estimates that Covid-19 will push online sales to 2% of SA’s total retail turnover by the end of 2020, up from a previous estimate of 1.4% two years ago.
“Consumer demand for speed and convenience is growing exponentially and our new partnership with Quench allows us to further meet customer requirements for quick turnaround times,” said Saul Saltzman, executive director at Dis-Chem.
Dis-Chem told the Financial Mail in October that it had averaged 28,000 online orders a month between March and August with the average basket size valued at R812. Nevertheless, online sales contributed just 1.3% to its R23.98bn in revenue for the year to end-February 2020, suggesting it has significant scope to boost its revenues from the growing digital retail segment.
Quench offers deliveries in Johannesburg, Pretoria, the Greater Cape Town area, the Cape Winelands, George, Hermanus, Ballito and Umhlanga, with further expansion planned for 2021.
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