Coronavirus: Takealot vows to enforce stricter pricing regulations on items
Last week Friday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, announced new regulations in terms of the Disaster Management Act to prevent retailers or independent sellers of taking advantage of customers by increasing the prices on key personal hygiene and everyday essential products.
Since Takealot has been in the limelight recently after being accused by customers of drastically increasing prices on face masks, the company noted that it is in full support of the new regulation.
"Takealot is in full support of the new regulations as it empowers us to enforce stricter pricing regulations specifically in regard to our third-party Marketplace platform. It allows us to continue to deliver on our commitment of offering our customers fair and responsible pricing," the company said in an emailed statement.
"Takealot offers products from two sources on its platforms. Via a retail model and via a marketplace or third party model:
- In the retail model, our retail buying team are responsible for setting the selling price.
- In the marketplace or third party model, the independent third party seller is responsible for setting the price."
"We will at all times adhere to the new regulations when selling products via our retail model, however as Takealot does not manage the relationships and procurement processes between third-party sellers and their suppliers, pricing regulation in the marketplace model can be difficult," said Takealot.
The company added that it will be proactively monitoring and regulating Marketplace products and prices to ensure their compliance with the directives and regulations under the Disaster Management Act.
"We have communicated these new regulations to our Marketplace seller network and have committed to delisting any products in breach thereof. Guilty sellers will be suspended, effective immediately. Additional resources have also been deployed to monitor this unprecedented situation closely as it continues to develop," said Takealot.
Customers are encouraged to report any product listings they may come across from today which might not be living up to their commitment of fair and responsible pricing here.
Written by: Gabriella Steyn.
Guzzle Media
