• Takealot is looking for a designer to turn the South African flag as a cover for one million boxes during the busy festive delivery season.
• The winning designer will receive a R100 000 Takealot voucher, the biggest we’ve ever heard of.
• Takealot is looking to solidify its “Proudly South African” status after a big rival from across the ocean joined the local market – Amazon.

With the entry of Amazon into the South African market earlier this year, local rival Takealot is playing up the fact that it is a homegrown company and trying to woo customers away from ecommerce titan – this time with the South African flag.

According to an announcement sent to Hypertext, Takealot is launching a new wave of its Heritage Design Challenge which it says is “aimed at celebrating the country’s diverse, vibrant, cultural heritage.”

The competition will see designers try to use the South African flag to create a unique design to be printed on one million Takealot boxes during the December period, the busiest period for the company’s ecommerce.

“We are a business built by South Africans, for South Africans, and true to our homegrown roots, we want to celebrate the many cultures which make up this beautiful nation,” says Julie-Anne Walsh, chief marketing officer at Takealot.

“This year we are both excited and honoured to see the pride of heritage in every design including the beautiful way in which every entry explores our rich tapestry of cultures.”

Designers can send in submissions of patterns or images that capture South African heritage using the South African flag through WhatsApp on 065 149 9234. You can check out Takealot on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok for more info. 

The competition closes for submissions on Heritage Day, 24th September 2024,

Takealot is offering the winning entrant a R100 000 voucher for any product on the Takealot store, and a R10 000 voucher for a charity of their choice. This is apart from their design featured on one million Takealot boxes.

If the winning designer is by chance a tertiary student, they will receive an additional R20 000 voucher to be awarded to their learning institution.

“A diverse panel of judges will again choose the winning Heritage Design Challenge illustration; famed choreographer Bontle Moloi, the iconic Laduma Ngxokolo, multi-talented Emo Adams, celebrated illustrator, street artist and graphic designer Karabo Poppy Moletsane and singer-songwriter Bobby van Jaarsveld,” the company explains.

“The communities we serve aren’t just part of what we do—they’re at the heart of everything. That’s why we’re deeply committed to finding impactful ways to make a real difference in South Africa. By empowering individuals, uplifting communities, and working towards a more sustainable future, we’re dedicated to creating a lasting change for the South African people,” Walsh adds.

Prior to its launch locally, Amazon was hard at work looking to get local sellers and shops to host their products on its local online storefront.

“We look forward to launching Amazon.co.za in South Africa, providing local sellers, brand owners, and entrepreneurs – small and large – the opportunity to grow their business with Amazon, and delivering great value and a convenient shopping experience for customers across South Africa,” Robert Koen, general manager of the Sub-Saharan Africa region for Amazon said in October 2023, eight months before launching in South Africa.

Amazon offers local sellers a number of tools to sweeten the deal, including “hundreds of thousands of hours of free educational content to support sellers at every stage of their journey, including articles, videos, webinars and case studies.”

Despite its attempts to lure local sellers away from Takealot, the Amazon launch was lacklustre for shoppers expecting products from international stores available locally. Other shoppers noted that Amazon was listing the same products as Takealot but at a higher prices.

Just days after Amazon launched locally, Takealot struck back by launching a subscription service similar to Amazon Prime as South African customers still wait for Amazon to bring its Prime service locally.