Red Puppy, the latest South African, 100% black-owned online marketplace platform, today announced the launch of its website, with iOS and Android App to be launch by the end of March 2020.
This addition to Red Puppy’s technology suite illustrates the startup’s initiative in bringing effective methods for delivering goods to South Africans.
The platform features a variety of vendors displaying environmentally friendly products and will also be an advertising platform for services providers.
The South African online shopping industry is a R10 billion market and stand to benefit from the Coronavirus pandemic. Global online giants such as Amazon and local firm Takealot are seeing increased online shopping due to COVID-19.
Most brick and mortar retailers are likely to see a drop in sales as shoppers choose to stay at home, Red Puppy wants to assist the vendors/retailers to use the platform in order to retain their customers.
The organisation believes that it can offer South Africans an opportunity to shop from the comfort of their homes without worrying about crowded malls and shops and most of all without having to rush from one shop to another, looking for their ideal products.
Red Puppy was founded in October 2019 by Tankiso Motaung an electrical engineer, after being frustrated by long queues in the shops and difficulty of finding the right product at the right price.
Motaung, the CEO and co-founder of Red Puppy, says: “Our platform will come in handy for our growing customers to be able to alter the way they buy their goods as the nation grapples with the Coronavirus outbreak.”
He adds: “At the heart of this new platform is an ambition of innovating truly superior and opulent shopping experiences for our existing and new customers.”
Red Puppy allows small-to-medium enterprises to sell their goods on the platform, the platform also exposes them to a wider and more diverse audience and also aims to bring quality products.
“There is a huge potential in online marketplaces in South Africa as e-commerce is predicted to continue to experience exponential growth,” said Motaung.
Red Puppy enables consumers to purchase products that enhance their day-to-day lives while creating a smoother way to shop.
The deliveries are only available in Gauteng and the company is planning to expand the services nationally in the future.