Swift Butler, South Africa’s start-up founded by young entrepreneur William Thubakgale known to most as the “Digital Pitbull”, wants to enable shoppers to buy groceries online by appointing a butler (shopper) to go out to do their groceries and have it delivered to their door. By Gugu Lourie
Swift Butler promises same day deliveries for all orders made before 16:00 of that day, and strictly servicing customers in Johannesburg – it allows them to deliver to users door in a matter of hours.
For added convenience to the customer, they are allowed to select a delivery date and time that suits them on checkout.
Currently the groceries are sourced from retailers such as Pick ‘n Pay, Checkers and Woolworths.
“Basically, we have trained shoppers all over Johannesburg willing and waiting to go shopping on your behalf for R62 + tips. Your shopping list is send to a butler (shopper) close to you where they will have your groceries at your door in a few hours ”, explains Thubakgale.
Convenience is among the top reasons customers decide to shop online to avoid long queues, screaming toddlers and having a trolley shoved in your ankle.
Swift Butler wants to help the South African shopper to do their groceries while relaxing at home.
To use Swift Butler, customers simply need to go through all the items that have in their store, add to cart and watch as your groceries are delivered to their door at a date and time that is suitable for them.
The firm said on its website that it doesn’t charge any amount on orders that exceed R550 and as for orders below that, a fee of R80 is charged of which will enable Swift Butler to deliver to your door, same day.
Swift Butler will compete with South Africa’s biggest food retailers, Pick n Pay and Woolworths, who are already offering online shopping services and deliveries.
But what will distinguish Swift Butler from the two food retailers is the fact that the new start-up is offering a butler (shopper) to do all your shopping.
Swift Butler will compete directly with the Private Shopper, which currently is limited to deliveries in Sandton, Bryanston and Fourways.
The founder of Swift Butler, Thubakgale previously worked at a Digital Agency in Sandton, Johannesburg. He resigned to focus and further his entrepreneurial skills.
He also founded Africa’s first online lay-by payment gateway – Layby Cafe.
Layby Cafe is an online payment gateway similar to your Payfast and PayU, but it only specializes in lay-by transactions.
It enables easy, secure and auto managed lay-by management services from online buyers to sellers. Buyers now have the option of ordering online. All they have to do is pay a substantial deposit on their order to secure it. After that the buyer will pay the agreed installment to settle the balance.
Thubakgale also founded an online music streaming and download start-up site in 2012 called QPLAY.
The youngster born in Polokwane is also involved in a venture that allows customers to buy premium men’s wear online via http://poshpatterns.co.za/.
With Swift Butler, he wants to make sure that you hardly ever have to step inside a supermarket to make your groceries again.
No Comments
Congrats William. You are a shining star and true entrepreneur. I hope South Africans will support you in your businesses by using your services. Gudluck.
Hello William,
The online selling is a great idea. This will save time and energy of the customer. Especially for employees like me, who don’t have time offline purchase. I usually order groceries from boxed.com and zopnow.com. For organic food items I prefer boxed.com.