Bidorbuy, one of South Africa’s largest online shopping and auction marketplaces, will soon be officially known as Bob Shop.
In August 2022, Bidorbuy concluded a merger with shipping and fulfilment specialists uAfrica, the new combined company is called Bob Group.
“Bob” speaks to our heritage as bidorbuy; Group refers to the fact that the new company offers so much more in terms of service, functionality and user experience for both merchants and consumers.,” the company said in its blog.
The aim of the collaboration is to compete with Takealot and Amazon.
Bob Group is a one-stop shop for everything ecommerce – that is, the different companies that make up Bob Group will cover every aspect of online trade, from listing through buying, payments and shipping.
“We wanted to make it clear that all the companies in the Bob Group (including bidorbuy) belong to the same family, so they will all have names that begin with “Bob”. Also, we’re using this new naming protocol to underscore the fact that Bob Group offers a complete suite of ecommerce and fulfilment services,” said Bidorbuy.
The company added that the name bidorbuy served us well for 23 years, and had a great deal of brand equity. After all, who doesn’t recall the jingle we use in our radio ads?
“Of course, the world of ecommerce has changed and over that time, we’ve gone through a rebrand – that is, changes to our corporate identity and website to keep us fresh and relevant, and to integrate technological innovations,” said Bidorbuy.
“Change is the only constant in business, and we needed to embrace it to survive and thrive as a business.
“In 2022 however, we’ve gone through a much more radical change. Something more than a new logo was required to let people know about our transformation.
“The company formerly called bidorbuy will soon be known as Bob Shop.,” added Bidorbuy.
“We’ll still be doing essentially the same thing – providing South Africans with their favourite online marketplace, with familiar features including buy now and auctions being retained. “
We wanted to make it clear that all the companies in the Bob Group (including bidorbuy) belong to the same family, so they will all have names that begin with “Bob”. Also, we’re using this new naming protocol to underscore the fact that Bob Group offers a complete suite of ecommerce and fulfilment services.
The company said it wanted Bob Shop to be broad enough to include both buyers and sellers, just like bidorbuy did. By retaining the three letters “Bob” we’re retaining the familiarity built up since 1999.
If you like, you can think of Bob Shop as “bidorbuy 2.0” – a new, improved version of our online community marketplace. We’ve improved bidorbuy, and through its role in the Bob Group, we’ve strengthened our offering by integrating the Bob Shop seamlessly with the other services that make up this exciting new company. “
“Bob Shop sits at the heart of the Bob Group and forms the connection between buyers and sellers. Merchants can integrate their offerings across multiple platforms using Bob Sync, then use the easy, automated fulfilment services offered by uAfrica (soon to be Bob Go) once customers have made payment via Bob Pay (soon to be live).
While Bob Shop may be a new name, our mission remains the same: building online communities and making it easier for buyers and sellers to connect. “
